A seed grant from a Virginia Tech initiative has helped get thousands of potentially life-saving backpacks into the hands of people struggling with opioid addiction.
The backpacks, designed by Virginia Tech students studying industrial design, include basics like a blanket and a notebook, and the overdose-reversal medication Naloxone.
The backpack project got off the ground through a Vibrant Virginia seed grant awarded in 2018.
“I had mostly been studying veterans’ and child welfare issues when I started looking more closely at substance use disorder in the New River and Roanoke valleys,” said Mary Beth Dunkenberger, deputy director and research scientist with the Institute for Policy and Governance at Virginia Tech. “The Vibrant Virginia seed fund grant gave us a way to explore both the impacts of substance use disorder and possible solutions in the urban area of Roanoke and the mostly rural Pulaski County.”
Dunkenberger partnered with:
- Kathy Hosig, associate professor of population health sciencesand director of the Center for Public Health Practice and Research.
- Sophie Wenzel, associate director of the center.
- Kimberly Horn, professor with the Institute for Policy and Governance, co-director of the Opioid Research Consortium of Central Appalachia, and co-founder of Roanoke Valley Collective Response.
That team worked with existing groups, including the Roanoke Valley Collective Response to the Opioid and Addiction Crisis and the Pulaski County Prevention Council to launch Connection to Care, a community-based program created with partners including the Council of Community Services’ Drop-In Center, the Virginia Harm Reduction Coalition, the Bradley Free Clinic, the Roanoke City Health District and Alleghany Health District.
The project provided life-saving supports, recovery guidance and resources to people facing significant risk of overdose.
“The C2C project was pivotal in building trust for academic research partnerships in the community,” Horn said. “The positive outcomes of that trust continue today.”
Connection to Care has supported thousands of individuals and families, including:
- 2,157 heavy-duty backpacks and 1,250 drawstring bags distributed
- More than 1,000 boxes of Naloxone provided
- 8,144 contacts with people at risk of overdose, with 4,174 receiving harm reduction services or treatment support
Aspects of the Connection to Care program continue with community partners, including the HOPE Initiative, RVCR, the Roanoke and Alleghany health districts, and the Virginia Harm Reduction Coalition.
Proposals are under development for future funding.
“During my time serving at the HOPE Initiative, C2C had a profound impact on those entering their treatment and recovery journey,” said Christine Wright, executive director and co-founder of Four Truths Recovery. “To watch their shoulders relax and breathe a sigh of relief as we handed them hygiene items and other essentials, you could feel that they felt seen and cared for regardless of their situation.”
The work also helped shift perspectives among first responders.
“Some first responders were hesitant at first,” said Laura Taylor, health program and policy research scientist with the Institute for Policy and Governance. “But through education and stigma reduction, we saw real changes across localities.”
That shift led to Responders for Recovery, a program that pairs peer recovery specialists with first responders. By riding along on calls, peer specialists can connect individuals with services immediately following an overdose or substance-use-related crisis.
Responders for Recovery continues under the leadership of RVCR.
Beyond direct outreach, the broader Connection to Care effort also supported post-release services between Western Virginia Regional Jail and Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare, explored recovery housing needs in the Roanoke Valley, and increased coordination among law enforcement, treatment providers, community organizations, and local governments.
For Dunkenberger, the long-term impact traces back to that first seed grant.
“Vibrant Virginia helped set the foundation for building relationships that make community-engaged work possible,” she said. “It underscored that this work is about trust — and sustained commitment.”
Launched in 2017, Vibrant Virginia encourages place-based collaborations that address pressing community challenges across the commonwealth — reinforcing Virginia Tech’s land-grant mission through sustained community partnership.
The initiative has supported more than 20 faculty-led projects involving over 75 faculty members across all the university’s colleges.
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Chris Graham
