The City of Fort Wayne announced the next group of recipients of the Opioid Settlement Fund Mini Grant program. This round includes money for a new program to increase access to recovery to non-English speakers in the city.
The Language Access Lab, which builds language access through advocacy, awareness and interpreter trainings, received $10,000 for an opioid service language access pilot.
Executive director Irene Paxia said via email the goal of the program is “to address and dismantle language barriers” that exclude limited English proficient residents from the recovery ecosystem.
The program, which has already begun, runs through October and includes a specialized training series to equip frontline recovery staff to move away from translations through digital apps or untrained family members.
Paxia called language access “a matter of survival” and said this grant allows them to build a blueprint to make life-saving interventions accessible to every resident.
Other grantees include Action Over Silence, Forgotten Stones and the Lighthouse thrift store. Each organization received $10,000.
Irene Paxiaa member of the WBOI Board of Trustees.
