In hopes of boosting the expected allocation of $43 million in opioid settlement fundsBuckelew Programs and Gallaher Companies are proposing a series of substance abuse treatment centers and sober living homes that could eventually serve up to 400 people in Sonoma County.

The project, called Sonoma County Housing for Hope, would provide much-needed recovery opportunities amid an opioid crisis that contributes to hundreds of accidental overdoses each year. Last year, 131 overdose deaths were reported in Sonoma County.

But the project depends on the availability of up to $20 million in opioid resolution funds that Buckelew, a Novato-based nonprofit provider of mental health and substance abuse services, hopes to obtain from Sonoma County in the future.

The money would be equivalent to $20 million in low-interest loans from Gallaher’s Santa Rosa-based Poppy Bank, the partners in the deal said.

Gallaher Companies’ construction division would handle the development — from site acquisition to architectural planning, interior design and furnishings — and would not make a profit, Buckelew CEO Chris Kughn said. Buckelew would manage operations.

Proponents say they want to build 14 to 20 facilities to meet the needs of different communities around Sonoma County, although they could initially start with four or five, Kughn said.

So far, Sonoma County has deposited only $12 million of the settlement it anticipates over the next 14 years. But a portion of that would be enough to get started, Kughn said.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” he said in an interview. “This money will not arrive on a regular basis. So let’s do something long-term for the community.”

“It’s exciting to think about doing something, really doing something, that makes a difference,” said Cindy Gallaher, co-founder of the Windsor-based company with her husband, Bill.

It’s unclear how soon county supervisors will be ready to begin deciding how to spend the millions in settlement funds that will arrive between now and 2038. Although they are expected to consider an allocation process in January, it will have to be deliberate and competitive, according to County Executive Christina Rivera.

It will also have to comply with usage restrictions set out in a series of agreements reached over the past three years as part of a national effort to hold pharmaceutical companies financially responsible for the scourge of opioid addiction.

Kughn said the proposal partners understand the situation but are also eager to start a conversation about what lasting projects might be possible, given the windfall.

“We think this will work,” he said. “Why don’t we try and see? Give us some money to start, and in a year we’ll show you what we can do. Start with $5 million and they can match it with $5 million from Poppy. With that amount of money we built four houses, five houses.”

The project, if it goes ahead, would expand the partnership between Buckelew and Gallaher Companies that resulted from the new Athena House and Hope Village Complex in the Rincón Valley, inaugurated last year. The campus provides substance abuse treatment to women and non-binary individuals who can then transition to sober living for up to a year on the same property.

It would address well-established gaps in treatment capacity and support the county’s efforts to improve access to substance abuse treatment, Kughn said.

He credited the Gallahers for inspiring the proposal after they learned in September of the county’s anticipated settlement funds.

The Gallahers watched a workshop on September 24 in which county supervisors discussed potential uses of the funds, including their desire to ensure some permanent infrastructure results from them.

In the weeks that followed, the company created sample floor plans and drawings, while association representatives met with individual supervisors to let them know what they had in mind. Told they had to present something, Kughn and Sylvie De La Cruz, longtime Athena House program director, appeared during the public comment period at Tuesday’s regular board meeting to deliver descriptions of the plan.

“The need is extreme,” Kughn told the board. “Right now we don’t have enough treatment beds.”

“It’s not about building buildings,” he added. “This is about providing a lifeline to people in our communities.”

Outside the meeting, Gallaher noted that the homes could be built quickly, once permits are obtained. Renovation and construction of the Athena House/Hope Village project took three and a half months.

“Part of it,” Kughn said, “is that we’re tired of waiting for something to happen and the Gallahers are ready to act. Poppy Bank is ready to support us and Buckelew is ready to take on this operational challenge. “So we decided to tell them what we think would work and give them a solution.”

You can contact staff writer Mary Callahan (she/her) at 707-521-5249 or [email protected]. On X (Twitter) @MaryCallahanB.