March 28, 2024
Annapolis, US 51 F

County health department receives two grants

The Anne Arundel County Department of Health and Anne Arundel County Mental Health Agency were recently awarded two grants totaling $620,000 from the Maryland Community Health Resources Commission (CHRC), an independent commission within the Maryland Department of Health.
“I am pleased that the grants will help enhance local public health initiatives,” said Anne Arundel County Acting Health Officer Frances Phillips. “The funding will support the successful Safe Stations program that offers opioid detoxification and treatment resources 24 hours daily year-round. It will also provide greater access to nutritious food in Brooklyn Park, where County agencies have been working to address the environmental, behavioral and physical health needs of the community’s residents.”
The Anne Arundel County Mental Health Agency was awarded $500,000 for a two-year period to expand the Safe Stations initiative by funding an additional mobile crisis team. Since its inception in April 2017, the Safe Stations team has completed more than 500 assessments and connected more than 400 county residents to substance misuse treatment and recovery programs. The Safe Stations initiative allows individuals to come to any Anne Arundel County and Annapolis fire or police station anytime to obtain detoxification and be connected to treatment, recovery services, care coordination and peer support.
The Anne Arundel County Department of Health was awarded $120,000 for a two-year period to offer Brooklyn Park residents greater access to healthy nonperishable food and fresh fruit and vegetables by creating a food pantry and by providing nutrition and cooking classes in English and Spanish. Transportation to the classes and food pantry will be made available.
For more information about Safe Stations and resources for substance use disorders, visit www.DENIALisDEADLY.org. The Anne Arundel County Department of Health offers education on nutrition and healthy eating; for more information, visit www.LearnToLiveHealthy.org.
“The Community Health Resources Commission is pleased to support Anne Arundel County’s efforts to increase access to behavioral health services in the jurisdiction and promote food security in Brooklyn Park,” said Mark Luckner, Executive Director, Maryland Community Health Resources Commission. “We commend Anne Arundel County for developing these innovative projects, and we look forward to working with them as these programs are expanded and implemented.”
The two grants awarded to Anne Arundel County are among 15 grants from the CHRC totaling $3 million. These programs are projected to serve more than 14,000 Maryland residents statewide. The grants focus on expanding access to health care in underserved communities, reducing health disparities, and increasing the capacity of safety net providers to serve vulnerable residents. A list and summary of these projects are on the CHRC’s website, https://health.maryland.gov/mchrc/Pages/home.aspx.
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