Op-Ed: Ideas to Strengthen Funding Proposals

OneOhio Recovery Foundation board member Alicia Bruce authored the following op-ed in the Van Wert Independent sharing ideas about how organizations applying for funds can strengthen their proposals. You can read an excerpt below and read the full op-ed (here):

Northwest Ohio knows how to pull together, something I’ve seen time and again as a social worker and Program Director with the Tri-County ADAMHS Board serving Mercer, Van Wert and Paulding counties. I see it also as the representative from our area (Defiance, Fulton, Henry, Paulding, Putnam, Van Wert and Williams counties) on the OneOhio Recovery Foundation Board of Directors, where Ohio’s opioid settlement dollars are being put to work to drive addiction prevention, treatment and long-term recovery.

In the Foundation’s last grant cycle, seven projects in our region received $583,086, with most funding supporting recovery services along with targeted investments in treatment and other efforts—local partners solving local problems. With Regional Grant Cycle 2 underway and the Grant Portal now open, it’s a good opportunity to build on this work. Here are a few ideas to help strengthen your proposal:

Focus on barriers. Recovery falls apart when the support basics fail. Transportation in rural communities, childcare for outpatient visits, safe beds for women and children, legal help to stabilize housing or employment—these are just a few challenges that can be overcome with the right ideas and resources. Spell out how your project can remove such friction points.

Link the chain. Some of the best efforts to take on addiction connect prevention to treatment to recovery, not in theory but through working partnerships. A court-based program that diverts eligible defendants into treatment should show the handoffs to counseling, peer supports, housing and employment, for example.

Read about more ideas in the full column on the Van Wert Independent's website (here).