BANGOR, Maine – The Bangor City Council recently awarded more than $640,000 in opioid settlement funds to 16 different organizations that provide a variety of support and treatment services, including for substance use disorder.
The Council vote on March 9, 2026, was based on the recommendations of the Opioid Settlement Funds Advisory Committee. The committee in July 2025 had recommended that $550,000 in settlement funds be used by Bangor Public Health & Community Services for an Intensive Case Manager Program for people diagnosed with HIV. The Council approved it in August 2025, which means committee recommendations resulted in awards totaling nearly $1.2 million within 10 months of its creation.
The committee was formed by the Council in April 2025 and was charged with advising the Council on the best use of the settlement funds in a manner that was transparent, fair and equitable.
The committee met on 15 separate occasions and ultimately received a total of 32 grant applications. It undertook the process of scoring the applications and then reviewing the scores as a committee. It relied on assistance from the Maine Opioid Settlement Support (MOSS) Center to craft the grant application process. The MOSS Center is a Maine-based organization that provides consultation, resources, training, and evidence-based technical assistance to Maine communities as they make decisions on the use of settlement funds.
The funding approved by the City Council is meant to support recovery, prevention and other efforts that address the lasting effects of the opioid crisis in the community. The money comes from the multi-billion dollar national settlement with pharmaceutical companies and other entities that funneled funding to states, cities and counties to counteract the harm caused by the opioid overdose epidemic.
###
The City of Bangor, Maine, is a service center community of 31,753 residents and is the county seat of Penobscot County. Bangor is the major commercial and cultural center for much of northern and eastern Maine. The City is an equal opportunity employer and service provider. For information on City projects and news, see www.bangormaine.gov.