Milwaukee County Announces Six Grant Recipients for ‘Better Ways to Cope’ Projects

MILWAUKEE—Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Behavioral Health Services (BHS) has selected six organizations to receive grants as part of the “Better Ways To Cope” initiative. This cohort of Better Ways To Cope award recipients is being funded through a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) grant with a focus on addressing substance use challenges for pregnant moms, fathers of minor children, and mothers of minor children. Along with increasing access to information and resources to reduce opioid-related overdose deaths, preventing substance misuse disorder, and increasing healthy coping choices. The newly funded projects will kick-off January 23, 2025 at Safe & Sound Milwaukee, 4422 W Leon Terrace, Milwaukee, WI 53216, where Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and DHHS leaders will greet the new awardees.

“Through our Better Ways to Cope initiative, Milwaukee County is working closely with community partners to ensure our most vulnerable residents have access to life-saving supplies and resources. I’m very pleased we will be working with six new partners to provide resources for mothers and fathers, particularly expectant families,” said Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley. “We are committed to ongoing collaboration and innovation to address the overdose crisis and substance use disorder challenges facing our community. This round of grant awards represents our continued investment in reducing overdose-related fatalities and saving lives across our community.”

Here are the organizations receiving grant funds in the following amounts to develop programming to in these categories:

Fathers of minor children—two awards for $100,000 each:

·        Guest House of Milwaukee
·        Fathers Making Progress

Mothers of minor children—three awards for $100,000 each:

·        Meta House
·        Community Advocates
·        Uniting Garden Homes

Pregnant mothers—one award for $100,000:

·        Wisconsin Community Services

Since its inception in 2021, Better Ways To Cope has been instrumental in regranting substance abuse prevention funds to community-based programs. Leveraging this successful track record, Milwaukee County DHHS BHS is poised to further its impact by directing resources toward transformative initiatives aimed at tackling challenges related to the opioid epidemic and substance use disorder.

“We are continuing to identify where there are gaps in access to information and resources, and create partnerships with organizations who can help us address those gaps. The ultimate goal is to help people struggling with addiction to get on a road to recovery,” said Jennifer Wittwer, Director, BHS Community Access to Recovery Services. “This newest round of grantees is focused on helping children, parents, and families.”

For more information, visit BetterWaysToCope.org.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.