Marion County Considers About $765,000 in Opioid Settlement Grants for Recovery Housing, Diversion Courts and Nurse Home Visits

Marion County commissioners will consider six opioid settlement awards worth a combined $764,868.94 on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. The money would go to two recovery houses, a recovery community center, a nurse home-visiting program for pregnant women with substance use histories, and two attorney positions in the county's diversion courts. All six are consent items (7.2.2 through 7.2.7), approved in one vote unless pulled for discussion, according to the county's Oct. 20 agenda packet.

Digitally generated illustration. Not a photo of any program participant.

How the Money Is Handled

Marion County's share of national opioid settlements is distributed through the Marion County Hospital District under an interlocal agreement the board approved Nov. 5, 2024, and amended Dec. 17, 2024. The district reviews applications, signs agreements with providers, distributes the money and monitors spending. Each award carries a required 4.5% administrative allocation for the district, so the not-to-exceed amounts below are the grant plus that fee. The county lists each item as budget neutral.

The Regional Opioid Settlement Committee reviewed the six projects on Oct. 7, 2026. Two are renewals and four are new.

The Six Awards

What Each Program Does

• Wear Gloves Dignity House: low-barrier transitional recovery housing for men with substance use disorders. The county says it has served 40 men and provided 557 supportive services since June 2025, grew from 12 to 19 residents in May 2026, and expects 50 clients this year, 25% more than last year. Its first award, $193,800, was approved Oct. 7, 2025. The new money pays for added staff and operating capacity.
• Open Arms Village Women's Village: a 12-bed transitional recovery home for women. The board approved $250,000 for renovations on Feb. 17, 2026; work is underway with completion expected in late 2026, and the home is projected to serve 40 to 50 women a year. The new $141,100 covers initial operations. The hospital district's earlier review placed the home on the campus of Compassion United Methodist Church.
• WellFlorida Nurse-Family Partnership: a free, voluntary nurse home-visiting program for pregnant women with substance use disorders or a history of substance use, continuing through the child's second birthday. The award keeps one nurse position in Marion County after the loss of previous state funding; the hospital district is paying the other $89,000 of the $178,000 annual cost.
• Lost & Found Club: a recovery community center, founded in 1986, that reports about 25 recovery meetings a week and about 100 people a day. It does not provide clinical treatment; it offers peer support and referrals. The budget covers staff ($68,768), rent ($27,600), outreach and other operating costs, plus a $19,311 privacy wall.
• State Attorney and Public Defender: $50,000 each toward an assistant state attorney and an assistant public defender working in Drug Court, Mental Health Court, Veterans Treatment Court and Post-Adjudicatory Prison Diversion Drug Court. The offices had asked for $124,675 and $100,000. The four courts admit about 124 participants a year on average, according to the hospital district's review in the packet.

Where This Fits in the County Plan

The board approved the 2026-27 Regional Opioid Abatement Plan on June 16, 2026. It lists five priorities: warm handoff and recovery services, pregnant and postpartum women, connections to care, support for people in treatment and recovery, and the needs of people involved in the criminal justice system. The plan reports $7,612,111 in settlement money received to date plus $547,930 in interest, with $400,000 set for core strategies and $1,675,000 for approved uses in 2026-27. That includes $750,000 for support for people in treatment and recovery and $100,000 for criminal-justice programs. It also lists $825,000 for the CORE overdose response network and $250,000 for SMA Healthcare's Central Receiving Facility, whose renovations are expected to finish in November 2026.

How to Comment

The board meets at 9 a.m. at the McPherson Governmental Campus Auditorium, 601 SE 25th Ave., Ocala. Speakers on agenda items who did not reserve time by 5 p.m. the Friday before can sign up at the auditorium desk that day for two minutes. Commissioners are listed on our county commission page, and the rest of the meeting is covered in what else is on the Oct. 20 agenda. For local treatment and counseling options, see our mental health services guide and healthcare guide.

Sources: Marion County Board of County Commissioners agenda, Oct. 20, 2026, items 7.2.2-7.2.7 (File Nos. 2026-24656 and 2026-24675 through 2026-24679), with the attached FINAL 2026-2027 Regional Opioid Abatement Plan and the Marion County Hospital District recommendation packets for Open Arms Village, WellFlorida Nurse-Family Partnership, Lost & Found Club and the State Attorney and Public Defender. Checked Oct. 18, 2026.