Photo from the Wayne County Community Foundation Facebook page

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HONESDALE, PA — The Wayne County Community Foundation secured $2 million in funding to go toward the Wayne Recovery-To-Work Ecosystem project, thanks to a grant from the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation. The funds will be used to supplement construction costs for a facility, and will be disbursed annually in two $1 million installments.

The Recovery-To-Work Ecosystem is a multidiscipline treatment, rehabilitation and long-term care hub designed to address key service gaps for individuals struggling with substance use disorders and behavioral health challenges within the defined project service area, according to a press release. This includes nine counties within northeastern PA—Wayne, Carbon, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Schuylkill, Susquehanna and Wyoming.

The model, the press release continued, focuses on individual needs by connecting existing local services and supplementing them with its own programming. It has a three-phase approach: 1) treatment and rehabilitation, 2) skills-based training and career development, and 3) job creation and supportive services.

The proposed project could create jobs, treat hundreds of patients annually, and respond to the identified regional labor shortage by facilitating patient re-entry into the labor pool.

“We are excited that this project is continuing to progress closer to completion and are extremely grateful for the support of the Weinberg Foundation,” said Wayne County commissioners Brian Smith, Joe Adams and Jocelyn Cramer. “Since the initial discussions, we have picked up so many partners, funders and supporters who all believe this is the right project in the right location at the right time.

“We all know there’s a service gap,” the commissioners continued, “but rather than simply acknowledging there’s an issue and hoping something changes—while continuing to see our residents travel across the state to seek services, or not seek services at all—we’re moving forward with a plan to keep people closer to their homes, their families and their support system.”