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LEWISTOWN -- FIRST Center has received $350,000 in first-year federal funding to expand substance-use recovery support and workforce services across five central Pennsylvania counties.
The funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration was awarded through its Building Communities of Recovery program. The project, called FIRST CARES: Rural Recovery Support and Workforce Pathways, will serve Bedford, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata and Mifflin counties.
FIRST Center was one of 28 organizations nationwide and four in Pennsylvania selected for a 2026 award, according to information provided by the organization.
Founded in 2018, FIRST Center is a community-based Recovery Community Organization rather than a treatment facility. It provides peer and family support, recovery education, advocacy, assistance navigating resources, community activities and employment connections.
The new project builds on work previously supported by the Appalachian Regional Commission. That effort included forming the Rural Recovery Alliance, surveying communities, identifying available resources and working with employers and people affected by substance use to identify gaps in rural recovery services.
The federal funding will be used to expand peer recovery support, improve connections to services and increase coordination among organizations in the five-county region.
FIRST Center also plans to train and hire additional peer-support workers, including Certified Recovery Specialists and Certified Peer Specialists. Those workers combine professional training with lived experience to provide nonclinical assistance to people in recovery.
The project will also focus on employment, including partnerships with workforce organizations and local employers to create job opportunities for people in recovery.
Other goals include helping residents navigate available services and strengthening coordination among recovery organizations and other community partners across the region.
A news release from FIRST Center said people with lived experience, families, service providers, employers, workforce organizations and community leaders were involved in developing the project.