July 25. Anuvia Prevention and Recovery Center will soon start offering substance abuse assessments, treatment scholarships and transportation assistance to low-income residents at the Ada Jenkins Center in Davidson, thanks to funding from a federal Community Development Block Grant administered by Mecklenburg County.

Anuvia recently received word of its successful $40,000 grant application for what it is calling “Project Gateway” and began nailing down the details.

“We are thrilled to be selected for this grant,” said Anuvia Executive Director Larry Snider. “The purpose of this grant is to eliminate as many barriers as possible that prevent people from seeking and getting the help they need when they have a substance use disorder.”

Victoria Rittenhouse, of Centralina Council of Governments, which manages the CDBG grant distributions for Mecklenburg County, commended Anuvia for its grant proposal.

“I know Mecklenburg County is really excited to be able to support this expanded service for residents in the service area,” Rittenhouse wrote in a letter to Anuvia. “ We thought your proposal showed great promise with creating partnerships with other non-profits to bring  the concept to fruition.”

Assessments at Ada Jenkins Center and Matthews Free Medical Clinic will start in August and will be done by appointment only. Assessments in Matthews will be done on the third Thursday of each month starting Aug. 18 and in Davidson assessments will be done on the second Tuesday of each month starting Aug. 9.

“For uninsured persons seeking help with chemical dependency, there are few resources for assessments and follow up treatments in our service area,” said Ada Jenkins Executive Director Georgia Krueger. “We are thrilled that we can now help our client-partners through our new partnership with Anuvia.”

Residents of north Mecklenburg County wanting an assessment can schedule an appointment by calling the Ada Jenkins Center at 704.896.0471.