The Alliance for Healthy Communities, Incorporated (AHC) has partnered with The Hope Shot (THS), A Recovery Community Organization, to create an essential initiative to Pasco County residents.
The partnership of the two organizations, aptly named The Alliance for Hope Project (TAFHP), is a one-year project funded by a Congressional Appropriation sponsored by Congressman Gus Bilirakis. The project will lead efforts to prevent substance misuse, while also providing pathways to treatment, recovery resources and prevention initiatives. Supports will include (but are not limited to): recovery and mental health peer support specialists; navigation specialists; prevention education, individual support, and classes; peer support meetings; overdose prevention education; medication safety and Narcan.
TAFHP is an inclusive community resource for prevention services and recovery resources that aims to increase community protective factors, reduce use, reduce overdose rates, encourage long-term sobriety, and promote engagement with systems of care. TAFHP will serve all ages from birth to older adults, with a specific reach toward at-risk populations in “hot spots” as identified by population health indicators, and overdose, arrest, and Intelligence Lead Policing data. While TAFHP will exist as its own entity, the program also will serve to uplift already established initiatives such as its collaborator, The Hope Shot, the Alliance for Substance Addiction Prevention (ASAP) and the STAND youth coalition.
Pasco county has experienced a 378% increase in overdoses since 2017. The 2022 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey (FYSAS) revealed community risk factors of laws and norms favorable to drug use and perceived availability of drugs by middle and high school students to be higher in Pasco County compared to their peers around the state.
“While I am no proponent of big government spending, I have a duty to ensure my community receives its fair share of allocated federal resources and to be transparent about my efforts to prioritize important local projects,” said Bilirakis, in the release.
The Alliance for Hope Project is slated to serve 848,800 individuals and families all around Pasco County and will continue the efforts to make Pasco County a stronger and healthier community.
For more information and for resources to get help for addiction, visit EmpoweredCommunities.org.
For more on The Hope Shot and its vision, visit TheHopeShot.org.
