ATLANTA — A motion was passed Wednesday at the Montmorency County Board of Commissioners meeting to allocate funds in the amount of $31,435 to Northeast Michigan Community Mental Health Authority.

NeMCMHA serves Alcona, Alpena, Montmorency and Presque Isle counties.

In addition to providing screening for people requesting mental health services, NeMCMHA specializes in services for adults with serious and persistent mental illness, children with serious emotional disorders, and people with intellectual or developmental disabilities.

Cathy Meske, director of NeMCMHA, said the agency has been working hard this year to continue to improve the services it provides and go a step further in addressing the opioid crisis.

“This year has been very, very busy for our staff,” she said. “We are working a lot on trauma initiative and assessing for trauma. We are participating in suicide awareness and have now developed a program called Safe Talk.”

Meske went on to say that the agency has been active in the opioid epidemic by working with community partners to encourage more providers to prescribe suboxone and other similar inhibitor alternatives to help treat those with opioid addictions.

She said the work is being done in cooperation with the Freedom Recovery Center in Alpena, and that NeMCMHA has a clinical nurse practitioner that is applying for the necessary credentials to be able to prescribe suboxone to patients, as well.

The fund allocation given by Montmorency is in the same amount as the previous year, and it is part of a five-year deal to support the organization.

Kaitlin Ryan can be reached at kryan@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 989-358-5693.