Introduction: The Rural Response Network (RRN) was established as part of a three-year federal Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP) grant to build capacity in Oberlin, Wellington and surrounding rural townships to support residents with substance use and mental health disorders, share information and resources, and improve access to services.
The Rural Response Network (consortium) believes that grass roots, collaborative efforts, building on community strengths and incorporating local culture, enable us to create and implement effective strategies to reduce overdose risk, increase community education about SUD and available services, and address barriers and expand access and linkage to care and reach a historically underserved rural population in our County.
We will maintain partnerships in Oberlin and Wellington and expand the reach in southern Lorain County to include Grafton, LaGrange and Eaton Township, replicating our community engagement and collaborative planning efforts to implement strategies that build on local conditions and community factors to support behavioral health care and contribute to broader goals under MHARS and LCPH.
Purpose of Interviews: To gather information from key stakeholders in these communities about the impact of substance use and mental health on residents, strategies employed by communities or organizations to address it, other needs facing residents, and to identify strengths, challenges and resources.