According to a media release from Senator Cathy Young, the Olean Republican was able to secure a $350,000 capital grant in the state budget to establish a supportive housing program at WCA Hospital’s Jones Hill location in Jamestown.

Young said the new program will be a big step towards addressing the region’s opioid and heroin epidemic, placing people with addiction problems in a specialized housing facility instead of the county jail.

Young said that Southern Tier Environments for Living Inc. (STEL) – a private, non-profit agency that has been providing rehabilitative and support services to people with psychiatric disabilities in Erie, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, and Allegany Counties for over 30 years – is working on developing the new program for supportive housing for the mentally ill and those with chemical abuse disorders who have entered the corrections system in Chautauqua County. She also said she will personally advocate for the supportive housing project to make it through the final approval process.

According to Young, the initiative will give people struggling with addiction alternatives to incarceration – while also helping alleviate overcrowding at the county jail that is costing local taxpayers about $1 million a year.