Mayor Terry Invites Community Proposals for Opioid Settlement Fund

Evansville Mayor Stephanie Terry is inviting community organizations and service providers to submit proposals for funding from the City of Evansville's Opioid Settlement Fund. The fund, created through national legal settlements with opioid manufacturers and distributors, is intended to support programs and strategies that address the ongoing opioid crisis in our community.

Eligible proposals must align with the guidance outlined in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's recommendations for opioid settlement spending. Each request should identify which of the recommended categories it supports, and explain how the proposed program meets that objective.

Mayor Terry will convene a small panel of local experts and officials to review proposals and make recommendations for funding.

"This funding gives us a critical opportunity to invest in prevention, treatment, and recovery strategies that will save lives and strengthen families," said Mayor Terry. "We're calling on our local nonprofits, health providers, and community leaders to step forward with proposals rooted in data, where we can help make a long-term impact."

Each two-page funding request must include:

• The amount of funding requested
• A description of how the funds will be used
• If the request is part of a larger project, a description of the broader effort and which portion would be funded
• A statement of the proposal's anticipated impact
• A sustainability plan for when settlement funding ends
• A clear identification of which Johns Hopkins category or categories the project addresses

Requests should be sent to [email protected] with the subject line:"Opioid Settlement Fund Request 2025."

To be considered for funding, proposals must address one or more of the following Johns Hopkins-recommended categories:

1. Treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD), including medications for OUD (MOUD)
2. Support for people in treatment and recovery, including housing, employment, and peer services
3. Connecting people to care, including care coordination, reentry support, and deflection programs
4. Harm reduction, including naloxone distribution, syringe service programs, and fentanyl test strips
5. Primary prevention, including youth education, prescriber education, and community-based prevention
6. Leadership, planning, and coordination, including data systems and collaborative initiatives
7. Training, for first responders, health professionals, and community partners
8. Research, including program evaluation and evidence-building

"This epidemic has touched every part of our city," Mayor Terry said. "With this fund, we have a responsibility to use it wisely to prevent future addiction, help people heal, and protect our families from the devastating consequences of opioid misuse."

Proposals must be submitted no later than midnight on October 28, 2025, to be considered.