VPM, PATRICK LARSEN

Rep. Abigail Spanberger met with Henrico County officials on Thursday to celebrate $1 million in federal funding to help the county construct a 24-hour detox center. The center will also provide preliminary rehabilitation care and connect patients with further services.

Henrico County, like much of the country, saw a huge spike in drug overdoses in 2020 – though addiction has been a growing health issue longer than that.

County Sheriff Alisa Gregory says she’s seen too many people with no other place to go forced to detox in her jail. She says they need a safe environment – which the detox center will provide.

“Coupled with being able to have access to resources, [it] gives that person, who truly desires to start on a path to recovery, a viable option,” Gregory said.

Spanberger secured cash for the detox center and 9 other Central Virginia projects through a new congressional community project funding program. The idea for the project itself came  from years of meetings with stakeholders.

“The construction of this building is about the county really saying the county needs a resource, a physical space where when someone needs the immediacy of treatment, they can come,” Spanberger said.

The center is slated to open in 2024.