Hope Center Receives $12,000 Donation

By Ethan Jordan, WNEG Radio, Toccoa

The Hope Center in Stephens County is the recipient of a $12,000 donation.

During a recent Stephens County Mental Health and Addiction Collaborative meeting, Co-Chair Kathy Whitmire presented a check to the center.

She said the funds will pay for the construction of two new offices at The Hope Center to house the new Opioid and Substance Abuse Counselor, Kevin Kurtz.

In addition, the funding will supply a laptop computer with access to the secure Telehealth Network which allow them to follow up with patients via an app on their mobile devices called My Charlie.

The My Charlie App can be loaded onto any smart phone and allows individuals receiving treatment to receive medication reminders and gives them immediate access to their counselor or support network.

The funds were part of the HRSA Rural Communities Opioid Response Planning Grant awarded to the Hope for a Drug Free Stephens, the Stephens County Mental Health and Addiction Collaborative and the Global Partnership for Telehealth.

Whitmire says the next phase of “Hope for a Drug Free Stephens” program will be the implementation of the strategy developed during the planning phase.

The Stephens County Mental Health and Addiction Collaborative along with the Global Partnership for Telehealth recently received $1-million in funding over three years to continue the efforts to stop fatal and non-fatal Opioid overdoses here in Stephens County.