Summit County to establish community foundation with opioid settlement money
By Tom Hardesty
The Summiteer
Summit County says “big pharma” helped to create the opioid crisis — and the county plans to use that industry’s own money to help defeat it.
In 2017, Summit County was joined by 21 communities and Summit County Public Health in filing a lawsuit against opioid makers, distributors and pharmacies, with the county being awarded $104 million in the resulting litigation settlement.
Now, $45 million of that money has been earmarked as an initial contribution to help establish the Summit Health and Safety Innovation Fund, a separate, tax exempt, charitable organization of the Akron Community Foundation, known as a Supporting Organization.
The Fund’s mission is to benefit the long-term health and safety of Summit County residents, according to a statement from Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro’s office.
The establishment of the Summit Health and Safety Innovation Fund has the support of Summit County Council. Shapiro “intends it to support innovative approaches designed to improve health and safety outcomes, while also acting as a convener to attract other funding and partners for successful projects. She also expects it to have the flexibility to respond to new and emerging health and safety concerns by providing seed funding for new and creative programming for prevention and treatment.”
The Fund will be permanently endowed and invested according to policy which may mirror the Akron Community Foundation’s investment policy, which focuses on minimizing risk and maximizing grant distributions while promoting long-term growth.
“When we filed our lawsuits in 2017, we never expected to receive a single penny. We did it to send a message to the opioid manufacturers and distributors who wreaked havoc in our community and so many others,” Shapiro said. “We were fortunate to be chosen as the bellwether, and our hard work in making our case resulted in a significant financial settlement. We have since been diligent in funding needed programming and grassroots organizations. This supporting organization ensures these funds are available, in perpetuity, to respond to whatever future health and safety crisis presents itself in our community.
“I am confident the Summit Health and Safety Innovation Fund will support the community for generations to come. I am exceptionally grateful to Akron Community Foundation and its president & CEO, John Petures, for being incredible partners since day one. Together, we will help safeguard our community for decades to come with this endeavor.”
While the Fund will exist at ACF, it will operate as its own Ohio non-profit corporation and will have its own board of directors charged with management of the organization, grantmaking and more.
The board of directors will have 13 members, with seven appointed by the ACF and six appointed by the county. Members of the board will bring fiduciary expertise and be subject-matter experts in the areas of substance abuse, mental health and public safety. The board will have a minimum of four committees: Investment, Grantmaking, Audit and Finance, and Operations.
The process to formally establish the Fund is expected to take several more months. In the meantime, Shapiro and the Opiate Abatement Advisory Council (OAAC) will use the remaining settlement dollars to evaluate and recommend funding for programs that address directives of the abatement plan, including physician training, harm reduction and more.
“As our community has changed and evolved over time, so too have the needs of its residents,” said John T. Petures Jr., president and CEO of the Akron Community Foundation. “We’re so pleased that Summit County and County Executive Ilene Shapiro had the vision to establish this historic supporting organization, which will preserve and grow the value of this investment for the community today, and for generations to come.”
The Summiteer
Summit County says “big pharma” helped to create the opioid crisis — and the county plans to use that industry’s own money to help defeat it.
In 2017, Summit County was joined by 21 communities and Summit County Public Health in filing a lawsuit against opioid makers, distributors and pharmacies, with the county being awarded $104 million in the resulting litigation settlement.
Now, $45 million of that money has been earmarked as an initial contribution to help establish the Summit Health and Safety Innovation Fund, a separate, tax exempt, charitable organization of the Akron Community Foundation, known as a Supporting Organization.
The Fund’s mission is to benefit the long-term health and safety of Summit County residents, according to a statement from Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro’s office.
The establishment of the Summit Health and Safety Innovation Fund has the support of Summit County Council. Shapiro “intends it to support innovative approaches designed to improve health and safety outcomes, while also acting as a convener to attract other funding and partners for successful projects. She also expects it to have the flexibility to respond to new and emerging health and safety concerns by providing seed funding for new and creative programming for prevention and treatment.”
The Fund will be permanently endowed and invested according to policy which may mirror the Akron Community Foundation’s investment policy, which focuses on minimizing risk and maximizing grant distributions while promoting long-term growth.
“When we filed our lawsuits in 2017, we never expected to receive a single penny. We did it to send a message to the opioid manufacturers and distributors who wreaked havoc in our community and so many others,” Shapiro said. “We were fortunate to be chosen as the bellwether, and our hard work in making our case resulted in a significant financial settlement. We have since been diligent in funding needed programming and grassroots organizations. This supporting organization ensures these funds are available, in perpetuity, to respond to whatever future health and safety crisis presents itself in our community.
“I am confident the Summit Health and Safety Innovation Fund will support the community for generations to come. I am exceptionally grateful to Akron Community Foundation and its president & CEO, John Petures, for being incredible partners since day one. Together, we will help safeguard our community for decades to come with this endeavor.”
While the Fund will exist at ACF, it will operate as its own Ohio non-profit corporation and will have its own board of directors charged with management of the organization, grantmaking and more.
The board of directors will have 13 members, with seven appointed by the ACF and six appointed by the county. Members of the board will bring fiduciary expertise and be subject-matter experts in the areas of substance abuse, mental health and public safety. The board will have a minimum of four committees: Investment, Grantmaking, Audit and Finance, and Operations.
The process to formally establish the Fund is expected to take several more months. In the meantime, Shapiro and the Opiate Abatement Advisory Council (OAAC) will use the remaining settlement dollars to evaluate and recommend funding for programs that address directives of the abatement plan, including physician training, harm reduction and more.
“As our community has changed and evolved over time, so too have the needs of its residents,” said John T. Petures Jr., president and CEO of the Akron Community Foundation. “We’re so pleased that Summit County and County Executive Ilene Shapiro had the vision to establish this historic supporting organization, which will preserve and grow the value of this investment for the community today, and for generations to come.”