Focus on Manatee | CareerSource Suncoast uses grants to respond to opioid epidemic

Opioid overdose was identified as the cause of death for 108 Manatee County residents in 2019. With the onslaught of the pandemic in 2020, non-fatal opioid overdoses were on pace to increase 18 percent last year after 753 in 2019.

Seeing these numbers, CareerSource Suncoast pursued a national emergency grant to deal with the situation. In addition to assisting individuals recovering from addiction, the grant also provided resources to prepare more workers for a career in healthcare. Seeing the effects of addiction on friends and family growing up in Massachusetts, Colleen Rondeau was drawn to nursing.

“I saw it as a badge of honor,” Rondeau said.

Rondeau enrolled in the practical nursing program at Suncoast Technical College tuition free thanks to the grant, but COVID forced her into remote learning on day two along with her two young sons. When school returned in person in the fall, Rondeau leaned on her support system at Living Waters Lutheran Church. While she has been going to school, the grant provided transportation money as well as funds for the boys’ childcare at Living Waters.

Rondeau is now a week away from graduating, one of 15 nursing scholarships funded under the grant since its start in 2019. CareerSource Suncoast has also used the $450,000 award to provide work experience at Sarasota Memorial Hospital and temporary employment wages and On-the-Job Training reimbursement to Centerstone to get people into jobs treating those addicted to Opioids. Support funds from the grant have helped with more than $25,000 in transportation, childcare and utilities to the 42 individuals participating in the project.

And with another grant to combat the opioid epidemic, CareerSource will have an additional $700,000 through 2024 to provide training to individuals affected by the opioid crisis as well as to individuals seeking employment in medical, mental health and addiction-related fields. Further, the grant will provide local human resources professionals an opportunity to learn about issues related to addiction in the workplace.

Rondeau has begun working as an independent contractor so she can go into homes and assist clients one-on-one. She’s already thinking about bridge programs to continue on to be a registered nurse, perhaps working in the emergency room of a hospital some day soon.

“Everything came together,” Rondeau said. “There’s a sense of pride and I can’t wait to give back.”

Ted Ehrlichman is president and CEO of CareerSource Suncoast.

This story was originally published March 15, 2021 at 5:00 AM.