USDA Partners to Provide Transitional Housing for Rural People in Recovery from Opioid Misuse
Partnership with Kentucky Nonprofit Could Become National Model
PIKEVILLE, Ky., Aug. 31, 2018 – On International Overdose Awareness Day, Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development Anne Hazlett announced that USDA has formalized an innovative agreement in which a nonprofit organization will purchase homes from the Department and convert them to transitional housing for people recovering from opioid misuse.
“From quality of life to workforce and economic opportunity, the opioid crisis is impacting rural prosperity in communities across our country,” Hazlett said. “Under the leadership of President Trump, we are committed at USDA to building innovative partnerships and driving greater collaboration of rural partners to address this crisis at the local level.”
USDA Rural Development’s partnership with Isaiah House will allow the organization to purchase and rehabilitate two USDA-owned homes in Kentucky’s Hart and Rockcastle counties and convert them to transitional housing for individuals and their families. This agreement is the first in an initiative that enables the Department to sell vacant, foreclosed homes at a discount to provide housing, treatment, job training and other key services for people in drug treatment and recovery.
Isaiah House provides residential and outpatient treatment services. Its holistic approach incorporates job skills training to ensure clients have the necessary skills to obtain employment and successfully re-enter the workforce. Individuals in recovery help rehabilitate the properties. Graduates of the long-term recovery program oversee the job skills training program and are guaranteed full-time employment.
Misuse of prescription opioids is a major public health challenge facing rural communities in Kentucky and across the nation. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified 54 Kentucky counties that are at risk for outbreaks of HIV and/or hepatitis C because of the opioid epidemic. There were 1,565 overdose fatalities in Kentucky in 2017. The highest number of deaths occurred among people between age 35 and 44.
For a rural community or county already struggling to attract new businesses – or maintain existing ones – the impact of opioid misuse on the quality of life and economic prosperity can be enormous. CDC reported in October 2017 that death rates from drug overdoses in rural areas have now surpassed drug overdose death rates in urban areas.
In April 2017, President Donald J. Trump established the Interagency Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity, led by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, to identify legislative, regulatory and policy changes that could promote agriculture and prosperity in rural communities. In January 2018, Secretary Perdue presented the Task Force’s findings to President Trump. These findings included 31 recommendations to align the federal government with state, local and tribal governments to take advantage of opportunities that exist in rural America. Increasing investments in rural infrastructure is a key recommendation of the task force.
To view the report in its entirety, please view the Report to the President of the United States from the Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity (PDF, 5.4 MB). In addition, to view the categories of the recommendations, please view the Rural Prosperity infographic (PDF, 190 KB).
USDA Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities and create jobs in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community services such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural areas. For more information, visit www.rd.usda.gov.
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THE VIEW FROM
T O R R E Y H O U S E
August 2018
With a new piece every month, Voices Rising elevates millennial voices through a digital platform to publish diverse forms of storytelling. From poetry and creative nonfiction to song and visual art, we hear from young people grappling with the greatest challenges society faces.
Climate Consciousness and the Self-Immolation of David Buckel
by Ryan Beam
Center for Biological Diversity | Working to Keep Public Lands in Public Hands
"On a nondescript patch of grass in New York, on the morning of April 14, 2018, an accomplished civil rights lawyer and beloved father, husband, and community member sat down and calmly lit himself on fire. The note he left to the world named fossil fuels and climate change as the reason.
Maybe you have heard David Buckel’s story, but more likely you haven’t.
That morning, the headline stopped me in my tracks."
We are beyond pleased to welcome two new members to the Torrey House Press team: Madeline and Michelle.
Madeline Slack will be joining our team for the next few months as the Torrey House Intern; she is a senior at the University of Utah in the English department and hopes to pursue work in the publishing realm. She brings with her experience from The Daily Utah Chronicle as well as the Utah Opera, performing in Die Fledermaus.
Madi can be reached at madgeslack2014@gmail.com
Michelle Wentling, a recent graduate of Ohio State University, relocated to Salt Lake in search of mountainous adventures (as well as a Master's Degree from the University of Utah). She will be joining our team for the next two years as our Environmental Humanities Fellow.
You can reach Michelle at michelle@torreyhouse.com
On red air days in Salt Lake City, the dense smog blurs the Wasatch Mountains, making us lose our sense of direction and rootedness in place. To fully emphasize the gravity of our air pollution problem, we need your story. This may be a fragment, a paragraph, a poem, an excerpt, or an essay. Please write no more than 800 words.
SUBMIT YOUR STORY
UPCOMING EVENTS
Join us at an author event near you!
September 4, 7:00 p.m.: Catch editor Stephen Trimble at Broadway Centre Theatre discussing Red Rock Stories as part of the Great American Read Series Launch (RSVP required). (SLC, UT)
September 29, 2:00 p.m.: Meet Scott Graham and chat about mystery, national parks, and his latest book Yosemite Fall at The Poisoned Pen.(Scottsdale, AZ)
September 15, 8:00 a.m.: Visit the Torrey House Press table at the Downtown Farmers Market. (SLC, UT)
September 6, 6:30 p.m.: Explore the relationship between outdoor immersion and personal wellbeing at Maria's Bookshop. Contributors to Nature, Love, Medicine Tom Fleischner, Edie Dillon, and Jana Richman will discuss their experiences with the natural world as a means for healing. (Durango, CO)
September 7, 5:00 pm: Meet editor Tom Fleischner and contributor Edie Dillon and hear about their recent work on Nature, Love, Medicine at Back of Beyond Books. (Moab, UT)
October 5: Join Eli Knapp at Houghton College for reading and discussion on his upcoming book, The Delightful Horror of Family Birding. (Houghton, NY)
October 7, 2:00 p.m.: Eli Knapp takes his birding knowledge and humor to the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association trade show. (Baltimore, MD).
AUGUST NEWS AND EVENTS
(l-r) Scott Graham, Chip Ward, and Kirsten Johanna Allen talk about fiction as a force for the environment at The King's English Bookshop on August 15. Jonathan Thompson speaks to a crowd for a River of Lost Souls event at Lithic Bookstore & Gallery on August 23.
Jonathan Thompson traveled to Arizona for a reading and signing of River of Lost Souls at Bright Side Bookshop, and he returned to Colorado for readings and discussions at the Wilkinson Public Library (with Between the Covers), the Sherbino Theater, and Grand Valley Books. He closed out his summer tour on August 23 at Lithic Bookstore & Gallery with a reading and discussion on the science, politics, and greed behind the Gold King Mine disaster.
Kirsten joined Scott Graham and Chip Ward at The King's English Bookshop for a discussion on the benefits and drawbacks of using fiction and the universal truths of storytelling to address today’s environmental challenges. Scott brought in his experience as a genre fiction writer with the latest in his National Park Mystery Series, Yosemite Fall, and Chip brought the perspective of a long-time nonfiction writer and first-time fiction writer with his debut novel Stony Mesa Sagas.
Scott Graham greeted customers at Park City's Dolly's Bookstore the following Friday, chatting about everything mystery, writing, and national parks.
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