Freedom Fighters Inc.

07/23/2025

💸 Where Did Our Opioid Settlement Money Go?

💰 $72.8 million in settlement funds reached 226 local governments in WV (July 1, 2023–June 30, 2024).
• Only 9.4% of that (~$6.9 M) was actually spent .

🚨 Over Half Went to Law Enforcement
• 52% (~$3.64 M) spent on police: new vehicles, officer salaries, K‑9 units, guns, radios, drones, jail reimbursement, and training .
• Examples: $888k on vehicles; $817k on salaries/bonuses; $42k on K‑9s; $39k on guns/ammo; $1.1 M on communication/security upgrades; $430k in Jackson Co. shooting range & training .

🚑 Quick Response & EMS Got Less
• QRTs (teams responding after overdoses): ~$685,000 (10%)
• EMS/medical training & equipment: ~$643,000 (9%)  .

🏛️ Jail Bills & Treatment
• Nearly $520k went to regional jail bills (Clay, Grant, Upshur counties) .
• Rehab/treatment got only ~$444k (6%) — donated to nonprofits, transitional housing, recovery clinics .

🌱 Youth Programs & Others
• Youth prevention: $413k — half to “GameChanger” curriculum, $60k to school athletic facility repairs .
• Other spending (bank fees, small grants, infrastructure): $205k, plus $134k unaccounted .

📍 Wood County’s Own Spending

Wood County received ~$858k and spent almost all on reimbursements — sheriff’s sheriff expenses, jail bills, and attorney fees related to the opioid crisis.

❗️ So What’s the Problem?
• Most of the money funded law enforcement, not treatment or prevention.
• Our community leaders haven’t felt any of it — funds stayed in police budgets, not here in Wood or Parkersburg.
• Less than 6% went toward recovery programs or treatment in all of WV.

🗣️ What We’re Saying

Even though Wood County got $858k in opioid settlement funds, it was almost all used to pay back the sheriff’s office and jail bills — nothing for treatment or recovery in our community. Across WV, more than half of the money went to police, and only a tiny fraction went toward rehab, prevention, or helping families. It’s time to demand change: funds must support us, not just law enforcement.

🔗

More than half of the opioid settlement dollars spent by localities across West Virginia last fiscal year went to law enforcement.

07/22/2025

Normalize sobriety.
Not because we “had a problem”—but because healing is powerful.
Because blacking out isn’t a personality trait.
Because hangovers aren’t a flex.
Because choosing clarity, peace, and growth shouldn’t be shocking.

Some of us didn’t just get sober—we woke up.
And we’re not ashamed of it.
Sobriety isn’t boring. It’s brave.
It’s not rare—it’s just not loud enough.
So here we are.

07/22/2025

HIRING POST ⬇️

Now Hiring! 📣

Our Cambridge, Ohio location is currently seeking an Ohio Certified Peer Recovery Supporter (CPRS) to join our growing team. Qualified applicants must possess an active CPRS certification through the state of Ohio. Resumes can be submitted via Indeed.com or emailed to [email protected].

07/22/2025

🌭✨ Hotdogs. Heaven. Healing. ✨🌭

Join us & Hadassah Atkins on August 9th at 4PM in the parking lot of 715 16th Street for free hotdogs, prayer, and harm reduction support.

No judgment—just love, hope, and healing.
💜🕊️

07/22/2025

You don’t have to understand someone to care if they live.
You don’t have to agree with their choices to want them safe.
⠀
Support is harm reduction.
Safety is love.
⠀
If you're using alone, call Never Use Alone. Someone will stay on the line with you and send help if needed.
📞 877-696-1996
⠀
You are never alone. 💛

07/22/2025

Letting go isn’t weakness—it’s freedom.
I held on to fear like armor.
I clung to anger like it was protecting me.
I carried resentment until it weighed more than the pain that caused it.

But healing meant surrender.
It meant choosing peace over pride.
It meant finally saying:
I deserve to feel light again.

Letting go doesn’t mean it didn’t matter.
It means I matter more.

07/22/2025

We recover out loud for those still struggling in silence.
Because we know what it’s like to feel alone in the dark.
Because someone once showed us it was possible.
Because our truth might be the spark that saves someone else’s life.

🗣 Drop your sober dates below. Let’s show the world what recovery really looks like.
We don’t hide. We heal. We rise.