As Ohio’s opioid settlement funds get dispersed, families who lost loved ones feel left behind

The opioid crisis is personal for Brenda Ryan.

She started her nonprofit, Keys 2 Serenity, in Cuyahoga Falls after her own daughter, Sheena, passed away from an opioid overdose in 2016. Sheena was survived by her 5-year-old child.

Nine years later, Ryan juggles her nonprofit work, a part-time job as a hairdresser and the caretaking of her 14-year-old grandson, Wyatt.

He’s one of an estimated 47,000 Ohio children who lost one or both parents to an opioid overdose between 2006 and 2021, according to a new study commissioned by Harm Reduction Ohio, a group that advocates for people addicted to opioids and their families.

In the early days of the opioid crisis, Ryan gained notoriety in the addiction recovery community as “Bulldog Brenda” with her advocacy. She fought hard to direct settlement funds toward families impacted by opioids, like her own.

“People had to die to get this,” Ryan said. “A lot of us that started these organizations, these are our children's blood money.”

Building a new support group

Keys 2 Serenity supports children and teens, like Wyatt, impacted by their parents’ addiction. The nonprofit funds trips to the zoo and partners with Walmart to give out hundreds of backpacks filled with school supplies to these families.

Ryan says the organization helps build community, but also aims to bring positive memories into these kids’ lives. She wants them to know they are not alone.

“This isn't about my daughter anymore. This isn't about Sheena anymore. This is always going to be about how we started. But now, it's really about Wyatt,” Ryan said.

As her grandson gets older, she wants to expand programming and create a support group for older teens and young adults whose parents died from an opioid overdose.

The inspiration for the group comes from Alateen — a peer-to-peer group created for children of parents who have an alcohol addiction and may be involved in Alcoholics Anonymous.

The support group would get these teens together to volunteer or just to play video games. Conversations around abstinence would be sprinkled in, but would not be the sole focus.

However, Keys 2 Serenity is small, with a board of eight members and a budget of just over $60,000 a year. In order to expand, they’ll need more money.

That’s why the organization applied for $60,000 in funds from the OneOhio Recovery Foundation.

Grants from the OneOhio Recovery Foundation

The OneOhio Recovery Foundation is the private nonprofit in charge of doling out 55% of the state’s nearly $2 billion pool of opioid settlement funds.

For a small nonprofit like Keys 2 Serenity, getting even a small portion of the money can be a tall task.

The foundation has given out $27 million so far to over 150 different grants. Only 13 have gone toward what the foundation calls “support for impacted children and families.”

Those projects include a program in Summit County with Court Appointed Special Advocates. The group got nearly $70,000 in funding for Project Heel, which provides a therapy dog for children CASA helps, including abused and neglected children impacted by substance abuse.

OneOhio board member Tom Gregoire says the foundation wants new ideas, but they need to be evidence-based approaches that can be linked to an abatement strategy.

"Just because something sounds like a good idea doesn't mean we can be confident it's going to be helpful,” he said. “In the history of, frankly, treating anything, but treating substance use disorders, we've learned over the years we've occasionally done things that don't work.”

Beyond that, Gregoire says the competition for a limited pool of funds is stiff. More than 1,400 groups applied for funds this round alone.

“That speaks highly to the need and the importance of the work we're doing and the potential, frankly,” he said. “That there are people out there that are prepared to support folks, children, families, communities in addiction impacted by addiction is pretty profound.”

Frustrations with the system

Keys 2 Serenity was not among the organizations selected to receive opioid settlement funds this year.

They applied for a grant with a coalition of other impacted families-led groups called Health Impact Ohio in Columbus.

“It never seems to trickle down to the grassroots, boots-on-the-ground organizations,” Ryan said.

She thinks nonprofits like her own — run by the families of those who died — deserve a larger share of the funding.

“Nobody knows better of what it feels like to lose a child than another mother or father that has lost a child,” she said. “We don't think anybody understands unless you've already been there.”

Dennis Cauchon, the president of Harm Reduction Ohio, says she’s not alone in her frustration. Many others in the addiction recovery community also think aiding families like Ryan’s should be more prioritized.

“The children, they're just considered collateral damage when they should be considered the heart of our moral concern,” Cauchon said. “They should be what we care about most.”

And he believes people like Ryan, who are personally invested in caring for the children, know how to best help them.

“Because [Ryan] lives in this community and has for many years, she knows what they need better than me, better than anyone on the OneOhio board, better than the best-meaning Ph.D expert,” he said. “And it's not like they're asking for tens of millions of dollars in support.”

Preparing for the future

While Keys 2 Serenity missed out on the first round of funding from the OneOhio Recovery Foundation, they’re not giving up. Ryan plans to apply for a grant again next year.

She hopes they’ll have a better shot.

And the OneOhio Recovery Foundation is helping organizations like hers take that shot.

Gregoire says the foundation will soon announce a free virtual grant writing workshop to be held in early 2025, designed to help organizations identify other sources of funding and prepare for future OneOhio grant opportunities.

“We want to transform how we think about substance use disorders and community, and this could be transformational. Nothing like this has ever happened before,” Gregoire said. “We’re in a niche that hasn't existed before, so we want to go beyond just awarding grants.”

These days, Ryan is considering other sources of funding to start a teen support group.

Wyatt, her grandson, thinks the idea would benefit a lot of young people.

“It makes me feel nice to know that my grandma is trying to help out,” he said. “You know, let other kids know they're not alone.”

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