Mayor Michelle Wu Announces New Partnership with Gavin Foundation to Expand Access to Recovery and Treatment Services

With $200,000 grant from Cummings Foundation, City’s Coordinated Response Team will draw on Gavin Foundation recovery professionals for treatment navigation and transportation

 

Mayor Michelle Wu today announced that the City of Boston has secured a $200,000 grant from the Cummings Foundation to expand its partnership with the Gavin Foundation, a nationally-recognized substance use treatment and recovery organization with more than a dozen programs operating throughout the City of Boston. The new funding will allow for an expanded partnership with the City’s Coordinated Response Team (CRT), which leads cross-departmental efforts to address safety, health, and quality of life for residents, with a goal to end outdoor substance use in neighborhoods of Boston and the criminal activity that supports it. The funds will allow CRT to draw on Gavin Foundation professionals to provide treatment navigation and transportation for individuals identified in the Mass & Cass area and throughout the city as they enter into substance use treatment and recovery programs. The City and the Cummings Foundation recently announced a $1 million investment in a range of summer and year-round safety initiatives in Boston, of which the Gavin Foundation is the latest.

For decades, the people of Boston have trusted the Gavin Foundation to help neighbors and loved ones through the toughest of challenges,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “As we work to strengthen pathways to recovery and support communities impacted by the opioid epidemic, this partnership will provide an invaluable direct connection to recovery that can help us transform our outreach work. We thank the Cummings Foundation for their generous support and the Gavin Foundation for their expertise and resources supporting the City and individuals on their treatment journeys.”

“We thank Mayor Wu and the Cummings Foundation for investing in the work that the Gavin Foundation does every day to serve Boston residents,” said Peter Barbuto, President and CEO of the Gavin Foundation. “For more than sixty years, Gavin has had the privilege of assisting individuals in their journey of recovery from substance use disorder, many of whom call Boston their home. We look forward to working more closely with the City of Boston and continuing on our Mission, ‘The Restoration of Dignity and Hope through compassionate comprehensive care for individuals and their families impacted by addiction’.”

“The Coordinated Response Team is thrilled to strengthen our partnership with the Gavin Foundation to rapidly connect individuals with the treatment and recovery services they urgently need,” said Kellie Young, Director of Coordinated Response Team. “With Gavin as an operational partner for treatment navigation and transportation, we can streamline pathways into recovery and address quality of life and safety objectives across the City.”     

“With this new funding, we can dedicate more resources to tackling this complex, long-standing issue in the Mass and Cass area and beyond. I am deeply grateful to the Cummings Foundation, the Gavin Foundation, and the CRT for their continued investment and commitment to recovery and public safety,” said State Representative John Moran (D-South End). 

“The Gavin Foundation is an incredible partner for our City and I am pleased to support this additional funding to strengthen our work together,” said District 3 Boston City Councilor John Fitzgerald. “Building stronger pathways into recovery is critical to saving lives and improving quality of life in our neighborhoods.”

Although significant challenges remain, over the past three and a half years, the City has succeeded in building clear pathways to recovery and stable housing, coordinating public safety and public health responses, and ending permanent encampments in Boston. To address persistent outdoor substantial use and quality of life challenges, the Boston Police Department has committed to increased presence and enforcement in impacted areas, focused on diverting individuals in treatment and recovery programs. Consistent with the City’s work in past years, CRT, the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC), and the Mayor’s Office of Housing are working with trusted health partners on an updated by-name list to develop a treatment and recovery plan with every individual regularly observed in the area. The City continues to work alongside residents and advocates to urge partnership for a regional public health recovery campus and decentralized treatment sites that will meet the scale of the challenge.

More details about the City’s coordinated response plan can be found in the City’s update sent to the City Council sent earlier this year.