United Way staff and members of Charleston's Opioid Community Council met for the first time on Monday, Aug. 11, 2025. From left: Margaret O'Neal, Bill Woodrum, Emily Hanna, Sarah Stone, Ashley McElwee, Cynthia Persily, Matthew Sutton, Martha Carter.
United Way staff and members of Charleston's Opioid Community Council met for the first time on Monday, Aug. 11, 2025. From left: Margaret O'Neal, Bill Woodrum, Emily Hanna, Sarah Stone, Ashley McElwee, Cynthia Persily, Matthew Sutton, Martha Carter.
ASHLEY PERHAM | Gazette-Mail
Charleston’s Opioid Community Council met for the first time Monday afternoon.
The nine-member body will decide how to spend $1 million of Charleston’s opioid settlement funds through 2029. Organizations can receive up to $50,000 for a project. The OCC is overseen and staffed by the United Way of Central West Virginia.
At the meeting, members received more details on how the application process works. They also set future meeting dates and divided into committees to review the applications.
According to a schedule put together by the United Way, money should be disbursed in December. Organizations will have a year to spend the money. They will have to file six-month and 12-month reports on how the money is being used.
Letter of intent
Nonprofits have until 5 p.m. on Sept. 5 to submit an application called a letter of intent. This process ensures organizations are eligible and that they operate in Charleston. Organizations do not have to have a corporate office in Charleston, but the OCC money they receive will need to be used to serve residents of Charleston.
“We  want to make sure that they understand what their programs are, that they understand what their impacts should be, and they have a plan in place to measure that,†said Katharina Fritzler, community investment director, who was explaining the process to the board.
Fritzler said if the letter of intent application is submitted early enough, she would help organizations provide any missing documentation to improve the application.
As of Monday, four organizations were in the process of submitting letters of intent:
The OCC will approve eligible organizations to fill out the full application, which requires detailed financial information. Then, the Prevention, Treatment and Recovery committees will research the organizations and visit their sites. They will also fill out a rubric to grade the applicants.
The committees are made up of the following members:
On Nov. 14, the OCC will meet and decide who gets final funding approval for this round of applications. Members with a conflict of interest will not be allowed to vote on decisions regarding the organization they are affiliated with.
Matthew Sutton, chief of staff for Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin and chair of the OCC, thanked the United Way for sharing its process.
“Having the United Way and their processes [means] that we're a thousand steps ahead of where we would be,†he said. “It would take us six months at least to put this together.â€
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