Fellowship Missions will be closing soon on the purchase of the building at 123 S. Buffalo St., Warsaw, for a recovery hub, and Thursday night the Kosciusko County Council approved additional appropriations from the county’s opioid grant to help them pay for the building.
Councilwoman Sue Ann Mitchell, representing the county’s opioid committee, presented the additional appropriations to the council Thursday for the use of opioid grant funds.
“This is something I’m glad to see that we are finally getting to almost the end of this. We’ve worked on this for more than a year, trying to get the state to straighten out their end and us to get on board, and then to try to figure out where we’re at,” she said.
As part of a national settlement reached between states and manufacturers, distributors and pharmacies over their roles in the opioid crisis, the defendants agreed to pay billions of dollars in payments to states and local governments. The national settlement payments are distributed to states from the federal government, who then distribute the funding to the local governments. Some of the funding is restricted in its use, while some is unrestricted.
Mitchell said Fellowship Missions will be getting $299,999.99 and the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office for mental health counseling for inmates will be receiving $28,832. She said the county currently has a cash balance “of that amount and more, so we’re not spending anything we don’t already have.”
She said the opioid money is not coming in like it was expected to. “Evidently, it’s not coming from the feds to the state and getting back to us, so there will be some research on why that’s not happening, I’m sure,” she said.
Fellowship Missions plans to have a place where people getting out of jail or dealing with addiction can go to receive counseling and help themselves, Mitchell said. The mental health counseling funds are for people still in jail and through the Jail Chemical Addiction Program (JCAP), she said, and there will be money for juvenile counseling as well.

    Fellowship Missions Executive Director Eric Lane tells the Kosciusko County Council Thursday about the recovery hub that will be in the building Fellowship Missions is purchasing. The county is providing about $300,000 from its share of the national opioid settlement to help Fellowship Missions purchase the downtown Warsaw building. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
  

“But that’s what we’re appropriating the additional appropriation for,” she said. “There’s one more piece of the puzzle. The building that (Fellowship Missions) is buying is $300,000 - actually $350,000. And so, it’s like what we did with the ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) money. If you’re coming to ask for help, we probably don’t have the money upfront to make the match. So we have the money in the opioid (funds). We will be able to make that match for them ... we’ll get half of it back as soon as we get a paid bill and send it to the state. We will get that reimbursement back. So we’ve doubled our money in what we had, which is really a pretty good deal for the county.”
She said she wished they could have got it rolling a little quicker, but they are close to seeing it to fruition.
Councilwoman Joni Truex gave Fellowship Missions Executive Director Eric Lane “kudos” for “taking this on. I really am impressed with the outpouring between Fellowship Missions and the Sheriff’s Department, and some of the other not-for-profits, to actually help the people who are addicted. I just think it’s a long time coming and I’m really impressed.”
Lane said all the money from the county from their opioid grant will go toward the purchase of the building. They will close on the building at 11:30 a.m. Jan. 19.
Truex also told him, “You are the first person to ever open up somewhere for homeless people to go and actually have a chance. And I don’t know if you’ve ever been told how important that is to our community, too.”
Lane thanked the county council for their support and said it’s a team effort.
He also told the council Fellowship Missions was awarded a grant from the K21 Health Foundation for the remodel of the property and they are “pretty excited” about that. The property is currently occupied by Generous Coffee, which will be moving to a new location on Center Street.
Providing the council with some paperwork on the renovations, Lane said they are going to keep the building “historic, just like it is. It’s one, in my considerations, one of the most beautiful buildings down there, especially on the interior. But it will be. We’re really excited to be able to bring that in.”
He thanked the council for helping make the building come to fruition.
After the council meeting, Lane said the building will be called The Gathering Place.
“The premise of that building is going to be a recovery hub for individuals who are seeking resources, loved ones that are seeking resources for individuals with substance misuse, and that’s really what it’s there for. Also for groups to have sessions there. We’re going to have other agencies in there, so there will be a collaborative effort, so we can give everybody the best opportunity for success that they can there. A place for mentors to be able to come and hang out with their mentee,” he said.
It’s not housing, Lane stated. “There’s no housing, there’s no soup kitchen. There’s none of that. Our shelter is staying right where it is (on Winona Avenue). This is just an extension as we partner more with the sheriff’s department and other recovery resources in our county to be able to give those who are in need the best service that we can give them,” he said.
He didn’t know when they would open as it will depend on the renovation construction.
Lane said he knows there’s a lot of questions in the community because no one knows all the details yet.
“We just want to be a very positive influence in the community, and our community has been great to rally around as the awareness has grown. It’s nothing new than what’s already happening. People are already here who are in need,” he said. “... I think it’s going to be a huge step forward for our community.”