Kelly, Gallego Announce Investment to Fight Opioid Crisis in Native Communities
Following the Arizona Senators’ pushback on Trump’s chaotic funding freeze, critical health programs are once again receiving support
Arizona Senators Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego announced that NATIVE HEALTH will receive a $500,000 grant through the Department of Health and Human Services’ Community Opioid Intervention Prevention Program (COIPP) to help combat the opioid crisis in Native communities across Arizona. This funding will support community-based prevention, treatment, and recovery efforts in Tribal and Urban Indian communities.
This announcement comes just two weeks after the Trump administration’s chaotic freeze on federal grants and loans threatened funding for critical health services. Kelly and Gallego have been pushing back against the reckless funding freeze and are committed to fighting for investments in opioid treatment, Tribal health programs, and healthcare services that Arizonans rely on.
“Families across Arizona have felt the devastating impact of the opioid crisis, and it’s especially critical that Tribal communities have the resources to prevent overdoses and save lives,” said Kelly. “This will help NATIVE HEALTH continue its work to combat this crisis and ensure that more Arizonans struggling with addiction can get the care they need. I won’t let President Trump or anyone else keep Arizona from getting the resources we need to succeed.”
“This investment will help Arizona’s Tribal communities combat the opioid epidemic and make sure people struggling with addiction have access to treatment,” said Gallego. “Just two weeks ago, funding like this was stopped because of Trump’s chaotic freeze on federal grants. I’m fighting to make sure that never happens again.”
The Community Opioid Intervention Prevention Program provides federal funding to address the opioid crisis in American Indian and Alaska Native communities. This program helps by developing and expanding community education and awareness of prevention, treatment, and recovery activities for opioid misuse and opioid use disorder; increasing knowledge and use of culturally appropriate interventions and to encourage an increased use of medication-assisted treatment/medications for opioid use disorder (MAT/MOUD); supporting Tribal and Urban Indian communities in their effort to provide prevention, treatment, and recovery services to address the impact of the opioid crisis; and fourth, increase harm reduction within their communities.
