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Combatting a Complex crisis

Joining forces to address addiction across Connecticut

“Addiction, a chronic illness that changes brain chemistry, disproportionately impacts rural communities, in part, due to insufficient: prevention outreach; addiction treatment and other health care resources; and law enforcement presence.”

Beneath the Surface: The Opioid Epidemic in Northwest Connecticut

About McCall Behavioral Health Network 

For more than five decades, McCall Behavioral Health Network (formerly McCall Center for Behavioral Health) has been mission-driven to inspire hope and promote wellness and healing through a continuum of behavioral health services for individuals of all ages across the Nutmeg State. With rural opioid use on the rise across the country and in Connecticut’s Northwest Corner, McCall employs a multifaceted approach—ranging from prevention and treatment to recovery support and community engagement—aimed at helping communities overcome adversity and achieve wellness. Offerings run the gamut from intensive residential and outpatient treatment programs to individual, family, and group therapy with the option for holistic therapies including acupuncture, EMDR, and Reiki. The growing “collateral damage” of substance abuse across the region has given rise to coalitions keen on collaboration as evidenced by the Litchfield County Opiate Task Force (LCOTF). This initiative, led by the McCall Center for Behavioral Health and Charlotte Hungerford Hospital, is focused on short-term strategies, such as naloxone training and syringe services, to address the opioid epidemic.

Our Work with McCall Behavioral Health Network

At FCH, we believe nonprofits are most effective in both meeting their missions and responding to constituents’ needs when given access to flexible and reliable funding — which is why we partnered with BTCF’s Northwest Corner Fund on a five-year prevention effort with the Litchfield County Opiate Task Force. Stemming from a fervent belief in and desire to cultivate both collaborative and network approaches in the region, we provided significant support beyond the grant and technical assistance as evidenced by funding for staff/personnel to fuel collaborative efforts. Along the way, we provided LCOTF with funding support for a grant writer to assist in securing the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP) grant. The second time was the charm and ultimately, LCOTF was successful in securing $1 million in multi-year federal funding to deepen and expand their work in Litchfield County.