EASTON, MD:
Grace Street, a new Recovery Community Organization in Easton, invites the public to its open house, from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, September 27, 2023.
The open house offers an opportunity to tour the new center, at 8626 Ocean Gateway; meet the team; learn about the center’s activities; and explore partnerships and collaborations. The center purchased the region’s first vending machine that provides Free Narcan, the life-saving opioid overdose reversal medication, along with test strips for Fentanyl and Xylazine. Visitors are encouraged to take supplies home with them and share the location of this valuable community resource.
“Overdoses in Talbot County increased by 55% during the period from March 2022 to March 2023, and we need to do more to stop this senseless loss of life,” said Linda Kohler, Executive Director of Chesapeake Charities. “Sheriff Joe Gamble led the way when he started Talbot Goes Purple in 2017, and Grace Street is the next logical step to reconnect those struggling with addiction to a supportive community and a better way of life.”
Grace Street is the area’s first recovery community organization (RCO). RCOs are a nationally recognized model that help bridge the gap between professional treatment and a successful life in long-term recovery through enhanced supports and services. Chesapeake Charities received a one-year grant from Maryland’s Opioid Operational Command Center to establish the Grace Street RCO.
Easton’s center delivers an assortment of non-clinical, community-centered, peer recovery support services and care coordination, along with harm reduction resources; workforce training and development; youth programming; overdose prevention activities and resources; and support groups. The center helps people establish healthy lifestyles and reacclimate into society, while building recovery capital and working to reduce stigma often associated with addiction.
Grace Street serves people in Easton and Talbot County, and in neighboring counties across the Mid-Shore. Referrals are not necessary and services are free. The center is open weekdays, 4 – 9 pm. and weekends 2 – 7 p.m. Daytime hours vary. Anyone interested in volunteering, partnering or supporting this project can contact Kate Dulin, program director, at 410-690-7353 or visit GraceStreetRecovery.org.
This project is supported by the Opioid Operational Command Center. The views presented here are those of the grantee organization and not necessarily those of the OOCC, its Executive Director, or its staff.
Located in Stevensville, Chesapeake Charities is a community foundation that supports more than 135 nonprofit funds that impact a range of charitable causes including animal welfare, arts, education, health and human services, and the environment. To date they have generated more than $32 million in investment and grant funding for charitable projects in ten counties: Anne Arundel, Calvert, Caroline, Cecil, Charles, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s, St. Mary’s and Talbot. For more information, contact Chesapeake Charities at (410) 643-4020 or info@chesapeakecharities.org, or visit www.chesapeakecharities.org. Chesapeake Charities is accredited by the National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations.
The Opioid Operational Command Center is Maryland’s principal coordinating office for addressing the opioid crisis. Under the guidance of the Inter-Agency Heroin and Opioid Coordinating Council, the OOCC leads Maryland’s opioid-related strategic planning and coordinates the efforts of all state agencies involved in Maryland’s opioid crisis response, various community partners, and all 24 local jurisdictions throughout the state. The OOCC can be contacted by email at help.oocc@maryland.gov.
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