GRANT TO HELP TREAT ADDICTIONS

Huntington, Prestera Center To Get $1.5 Million For Rural Area Programs

HUNTINGTON -- More than $1 million has been designated to the Huntington
area to help those living in rural communities better cope with recovering
from drug addictions.

Huntington has joined forces with Prestera Center for Mental Health
Services Inc. in a grant program administered by the Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration.

The grant is aimed at offering enhanced addiction recovery services in
communities in Boone, Cabell, Clay, Kanawha, Lincoln, Mason, Putnam and
Wayne counties, according to Robert Hansen, executive director of Prestera.

The program will place a drug aftercare specialist in all eight counties,
said Genise Lalos, director of addiction services for Prestera.

Huntington and Prestera worked together at obtaining the grant, which will
deliver approximately $1.5 million into the region during a three-year
period, said Huntington Mayor David Felinton.

"Huntington is the hub of a large geographic area, and a destination for
drug treatment, and this adds stress to our city's resources," he said.

The program is expected to help approximately 1,500 residents in their home
counties and will relieve the burden of those coming into Huntington for
treatment, he said.

The grant will also be used to provide education and transportation to
those in need, he said.

Drug aftercare is one of the most needed aspects of drug treatment,
Felinton said. Those who come to Huntington and go through one of
Prestera's drug programs are then returned to their original environment,
which often reintroduces drugs into the addicts' lives, he said.

The grant will provide the funds necessary to place a drug aftercare
specialist in the recovering addict's home county to provide another tier
of support, Lalos said.

"It might sound like a lot of money for 1,500 people," she said. "But when
you look at the alternatives like incarceration and the welfare system, its
saves money in the long run."

The program is expected to be operating within the next 60 days, she said.
Prestera will select those who will participate in the program, she said.

Prestera will have to track the participants and provide the data to the
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the grant
providers, said Hansen.

"Accountability is a big part of this grant," he said.