CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The city of Charleston is turning its opioid settlement funds into hope, using them to invest in local groups working to combat addiction.
In December 2025, the city committed $540,000 to 14 treatment initiatives, and Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin provided an update on that process Friday.
“We can clear the pathway and we can open some doors, but it’s our local entities that bring people through the doors and really help people,” she said.
Grants are awarded in partnership with the United Way of Central West Virginia with assistance from the city’s Opioid Community Council. The United Way is helping the mayor’s office oversee applications, vetting, and administration.
“We know exactly where every penny of that $540,000 is going. We have vetted the non-profit organizations that are receiving those funds, and we know for a fact that the good work and community impact that she and her team wanted to see happen from these funds is happening as we speak,” United Way CWV President Margaret O’Neal said.
The work with area groups comes in addition to the city’s CARE (Coordinated Addiction Response Effort) team that was established to connect residents to treatment services. Goodwin believes the city can successfully support individuals while also aiding organizations.
“We said, ‘Yes, we’re going to still fund our CARE Team with some of these funds, but we’re also going to take a chunk and work with local organizations,'” she said.
At the midpoint of 2026, the funds awarded by the city helped these groups reach 1,419 people, including 1,300 adults and 119 children. The Kanawha Valley Fellowship Home is among the organizations receiving assistance as it expands its sober living operations.
“The first year we got $25,000, and we used that money to seed our expansion next door at the building you went to upstairs, and we use money from the United Way to offset our expenses for providing meals and other services,” KVFH Executive Director Dick Daugherty said.
KVFH will open an additional 12 apartments for men completing the first year in its program in the first quarter of 2027. Daugherty said the creation of this “recovery campus” will help his organization bring more fire to the fight against addiction.
“We won’t have people dropping dead of opiate addiction on the street as much, and with all of these things, we’re just a little part of that whole process, and we’re just proud to play a role in it,” he said.
The city and United Way are in the early stages of the next funding round, with letters of intent being reviewed. Officials will soon start meeting with organizations and hearing their stories.
“The next step will be for folks to complete a full application if asked to do so. We make site visits so people will come by and visit, and that’s really when the non-profit agency partner has a chance to tell their story,” O’Neal said.