Community Service Board of Middle Georgia Announced as Recipients of 2025 Opioid Abatement Grant Funds

The Community Service Board of Middle Georgia (CSBMG) announced in a Nov. 18 press release it had been selected as a recipient of 2025 grant funds from the Georgia Opioid Crisis Abatement Trust.

The Georgia Opioid Crisis Abatement Trust was founded in 2022 to manage and distribute up to $1.3 billion through 2040 received from “multiple opioid settlements.” According to the Trust’s website, funds are directed towards “prevention, treatment, recovery, harm reduction, education, law enforcement and research across Georgia.”

While CSBMG Community Relations Coordinator and Director of Business Development Erica Stoakes could not share specifics regarding the use of the received funds, she did claim they would be used for one of CSBMG’s outward facings endeavors, such as informational pamphlets, medical supply distribution or the construction of the board’s new recovery community organization in Montgomery County.

“What we’re using them for is creating public service announcements, we have several billboards up,” said Stoakes. “We are also distributing and facilitating opioid reduction educational pieces and trainings on how to use narcan. We also purchase narcan, naloxone boxes, and we distribute those to our law enforcement and other entities.”

The press release also said primary focus counties would include Montgomery, Telfair, Treutlen and Wheeler, and the investment would “help strengthen regional partnerships and enhance access to life-saving behavioral health and recovery support resources.”

CSBMG began in 1966 under the direction of the Department of Public Health. The organization served as a community mental health center until 1994, when legislative action transitioned the group into a community service board.

However, the organization is a nonprofit and not a part of the Georgia state government, meaning grants such as from the Georgia Opioid Crisis Abatement Trust and federal organizations form a vital part of the board’s ability to operate.

“We’re not funded by the state,” said Stoakes. “Community Service Board of Middle Georgia is quasi-governmental and we are actually a nonprofit 501(c)(3). We are primarily funded by federal grants like SAMSA and the CNHCC.”

CSBMG focuses on providing medical care for mental health and substance abuse, as well as spreading information and awareness on the topics. The board services 16 Georgia counties, and the organization’s website claims the board “provides care to nearly 6,000 adults and more than 3,400 children, youth and young adults.”