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Red Lake Tribe To Build $5M Drug Treatment Center

The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced that the department would provide nearly $5M in funding to the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians to address the opioid epidemic. Infrastructure for four facilities addressing public safety, healthcare and a new chemical dependency treatment center would be built using the funds through the USDA's Community Facilities program.

The $4,950,000 direct loan will be used to build a new 20,123 sq. ft. facility with 16 beds, group meeting rooms, and visitation areas. The USDA says that recent efforts to address the rural opioid epidemic have shown that prevention programs, prescription drug monitoring, medication-assisted treament and overdose reversal drug naloxone are effective tools to reduce drug use and overdose.

"Over the last seven years, USDA has worked closely with tribal leaders to support locally-driven solutions to improve economic opportunities in tribal areas by increasing access to education, health care, broadband and business development," Vilsack said in a press release. "These four projects will help the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians ensure the health, safety, and well-being of its members and local communities well into the future."

Red Lake Nation will also receive a $2.2M direct loan to build a fire hall in Ponemah. The space will include a training room, decontamination space and enough spots to house the Department's trucks inside the fire house.

The City of Red Lake will also build a new facility for its fire department using a $2.8 direct loan. The facility will serve as a back-up for Ponemah's fire department.

Red Lake Band's current renal dialysis center will increase its treatment capacity from five to 12 units using a nearly $3M direct loan as well.

Since 2009, the USDA has provided $3.1 billion in Rural Development programs and services, according to the release.

 

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