Somerset County gets $1 million grant for drug rehab expansion

31 minutes ago

Somerset County has received a $1 million grant from the federal government for the expansion of a drug detox unit.

The grant award to the Somerset County commissioners was announced on Wednesday by the Appalachian Regional Commission.

The project is meant to expand drug and alcohol treatment and rehabilitation services for residents of Somerset County and counties throughout southwestern Pennsylvania, according to ARC.

The grant will assist with the construction of a new detox unit at Twin Lakes Center at Somerset Hospital, which treats people suffering from alcoholism and drug addiction. The expansion will allow an additional 472 patients to be treated annually and will create 33 jobs, according to ARC.

Funding for the grant comes from the POWER program, which targets federal resources to Appalachian communities that have suffered from the downturn in the coal mining industry.

In addition to increasing the number of beds and support services available, the Somerset County project will facilitate patients’ re-entry into the workforce through Twin Lakes Center’s Recovery to Work program — a collaboration with CareerLink and the Somerset County Chamber of Commerce.

The project also is getting $1 million from the state’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program and $500,000 from the Richard King Mellon Foundation.

ARC currently is accepting applications in response to the POWER 2020 Request for Proposals. Required letters of intent are due by Feb. 28, and final applications are due by March 27. Additional guidance on application submission is available at www.arc.gov/power.

Stephen Huba is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Stephen at 724-850-1280, shuba@tribweb.com or via Twitter .