City leaders want to allocate Louisville's $2.6 million from opioid settlement to combat crisis

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville is set to receive $2.6 million from the national opioid settlement, and city leaders have outlined plans to allocate the funds to address addiction, prevention and recovery efforts.

Pharra Burleson knows firsthand the devastating impact of addiction. Once homeless and struggling on the streets, she has now turned her life around and works at Goodwill helping others facing similar challenges.

"My fire, my spirit had died," Burleson recalled. "It was not rainbows and sunshine, there was no instant gratification. There was no prize to be won. It was dark. It was scary, and I wanted to give up many, many times, but for whatever reason I just kept going."

Her story she said underscores the importance of accessible treatment and support systems, something the new funding aims to enhance.

Mayor Craig Greenberg wants $700,000 of the settlement money to be used to establish a diversion program for individuals charged with unlawful camping. This initiative would offer qualifying individuals a drug treatment option instead of incarceration.

"Each one of these calls, each one of these numbers, each one of these people that we help is a person, is a neighbor, somebody who's struggling, that we can offer them their help," Greenberg said.

Beyond diversion programs, he wants funds to also be directed toward preventive measures for Louisville’s youth. Investments will focus on education, counseling, and peer support to deter young people from drug use.

Additionally, a portion of the money would be allocated to those petitioning for Casey’s Law, which allows family members and friends to request court-mandated treatment for loved ones battling addiction.

Nick Wren, CEO of Isaiah House, an addiction treatment center with locations across Kentucky, emphasized that financial resources alone are not enough.

"Just in the current economical climate that we find ourselves in, that money does not go anywhere near as far as it used to," Wren stated.

He added that the fight against addiction must also address employment, housing, and transportation—key barriers that hinder long-term recovery.

"I believe it to be almost a tiered approach that needs to be taken here where we do tackle the root issues of addiction and focus on the treatment first and then we bring in the additional resources to tackle the break down of the obstacles that really cause a lot of people to stumble as they're just getting their recovery legs under them," said Wren.

Goodwill Industries of Kentucky, which works to help improve the lives of Kentuckians experiencing poverty—including those experiencing addiction and those in recovery—reiterated the importance of equitable resources.

"Offering these critical resources to this population is an important step toward creating economic equity and increasing the workforce population," the organization said in a statement. "We applaud efforts that help open doors to equitable opportunities for all."

The allocation of the Opioid Settlement Funds will go before Louisville’s budget committee later this week.

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