CHARLESTON — Drug addiction services on the South Shore will get a $64,000 boost in this year's budget.
Councilman Joe Borelli announced the allocation of the funds Monday to six groups that operate a variety of opioid and substance abuse programs around the borough.
The allocation includes $10,000 for Christopher's Reason in Charleston, which was started last year by Ann Marie Perrotto who lost her son, Christopher Perrotto, to an overdose in 2011.
"This is the first full year that Christopher’s Reason will be operating out of their new location on Arthur Kill Road, and I hope that Ann Marie will consider this grant ‘seed money’ to help them get started in earnest on the south shore and continue to grow their presence in the years to come," Borelli said in a statement.
Also included in the allocations are $15,000 for Carl's House, $14,000 for the Staten Island Mental Health Society, $10,000 for Camelot Counseling, $10,000 for YMCA Counseling Services and $5,000 for St. Vincent's Services, Borelli said.
The funding comes after Staten Island had the deadliest year for drug overdoses on record since 2000. Last year, 116 Staten Islanders died from overdoses and the borough had the highest rate per capita in the city, according to the Department of Health.
Opioids were largely to blame for the fatal overdoses around the city — which increased by 46 percent — and officials blamed the spike on the introduction of the potent synthetic-drug fentanyl to heroin batches.
