LCCC receives grant for opioid awareness and naloxone training

Lehigh Carbon Community College is one of 13 higher education institutions chosen to receive a portion of nearly $1 million by the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs to prevent and reduce the use of opioids by college students and to create naloxone training opportunities for postsecondary institutions.

LCCC’s $81,000 grant will be used for a handful of key projects. The college has contracted with the Center for Humanistic Change to present the Heroin and Opioid Prevention Education workshops on all campuses as the primary focus of a collegewide awareness raising campaign.

HOPE was developed in response to the growing concern about the opioid epidemic in the Lehigh Valley. The program builds awareness through the stories of local families coping with the impact of addiction. Attendees learn about the drugs, signs of use, and symptoms of overdose, the nature of addiction, training in Naloxone administration, and how to get help.

Funds are available to expand LCCC’s STEP-Up Drug Prevention Student Groups.

Naloxone overdose reversal nasal spray and certification in its administration will be provided to LCCC Public Safety Officers and other key staff members. A web resource aimed at reducing the stigma of addiction and educating students about opioid use disorder will be created.

In addition, LCCC is set to host an Addiction and Recovery Educational Conference on May 1 at its main campus. The conference will include stories of families affected by the overdose epidemic, engaging addiction education presentations, tables from local treatment providers, and recovery oriented entertainment. Attendees can even visit CHC’s Mock Teen Bedroom and try their hand at locating and identifying the mock drugs and paraphernalia.

For more information, contact LCCC’s Molly Stanton, opioid prevention educator, at mstanton@lccc.edu, or Brian DeLong, director of Counseling and Community Standards and the project director, at bdelong2@lccc.edu. Both can be reached at 610-799-1895.

For more information about work to combat the statewide opioid crisis, visit pa.gov/opioids.