Building upon past successes to educate the public about substance use disorder and raise awareness of local resources, the Marion M.A.T.T.E.R.S. campaign is becoming the Marion M.A.T.T.E.R.S. Prevention Coalition.
Marion County has leveraged county opioid settlement funds to hire a full-time prevention coalition coordinator. The acronym M.A.T.T.E.R.S. stands for Mending Addiction Through Treatment, Education and Recovery Support, with an emphasis on prevention. These efforts will be instrumental in bringing together local organizations, community leaders and stakeholders who share a commitment to creating a healthier, safer and stronger Marion County community. This position has been funded for three to four years and is housed under SETHRA. The objective of this project is to obtain external funding to sustain this position and scale out the Marion M.A.T.T.E.R.S. Prevention Coalition by the end of this funding period.
To see other examples of county opioid settlement innovations and contact the UT SMART Initiative staff, please visit their website at smart.tennessee.edu.