The Gloucester Board of Supervisors recently approved the spending of the first wave of funding from the opioid settlement with Janssen Pharmaceuticals that saw the county receive an initial payment of $144,508.08.

Gloucester is one of many localities across the nation that will receive finding from the $26 billion lawsuit; the county will receive, in total, $747,382.

The board voted to accept the funding in 2022 and since then, Deputy County Administrator Steve Wright and Community Engagement and Public Information Manager Quinton Sheppard have been developing a plan to get the most out of the funds.

Wright said when the process started, he and Sheppard understood two things. First, he said they noticed that Gloucester was lacking resources and services for addiction care and prevention. Secondly, he said they also knew they were not experts in field of addiction recovery, so they sought input from others to find the gaps in care the county has and find ways to fill them.

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