FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Hannah Muldavin, Hannah.Muldavin@mail.house.gov

Rep. Trone, Brooke’s House Announce $60,000 in Funding to Help Combat the Opioid Crisis

HAGERSTOWN, MD – Today, Congressman David Trone (MD-06) and Kevin Simmers, Founder of Brooke’s House women’s sober living facility in Hagerstown, secured $60,000 in funding through the Appalachian Regional Commission to support Brooke’s House’s business operations and assist residents in accessing employment opportunities and higher education.

Since opening in early 2019, Brooke’s House has changed the lives of dozens of Western Maryland women recovering from alcohol addiction and substance use disorders. The facility provides residents with a stable living environment, supportive community, and a job to help transition back into society. Brooke’s House was founded to honor the life of Brooke Simmers, who lost her life to opioid addiction in 2015.

“I’ve had the honor of working closely with Kevin Simmers and the Brooke’s House family since the beginning, and I couldn’t be more impressed with the impact they’ve made on the lives of their residents and community,” said Congressman David Trone. “This funding will allow Brooke’s House to continue its excellent work and support more women in their recovery. I look forward to continuing to work together to change lives and ending the opioid crisis once and for all.”

“Brookes House thanks the ARC and Congressman David Trone for supporting our ladies who are in recovery from substance use disorder,” said Kevin Simmers. “The ARC grant will enable Brookes House to expand job training and greatly increase our ladies chances of finding lifetime sobriety and success. Congressman Trone has supported Brooke’s House from the very beginning. Congressman Trone has maintained unwavering support for individuals suffering from substance use disorder.”

Congressman David Trone was elected to the House of Representatives in November 2018 to serve the 6th District of Maryland, which includes all or part of Montgomery, Frederick, Washington, Allegany, and Garrett Counties. He attended the grand opening of Brooke’s House in 2019. In Congress, he founded the Freshmen Working Group on Addiction, a bipartisan group of 64 freshmen lawmakers dedicated to ending the addiction epidemic in the country. Trone has held multiple workshops about the crisis in Maryland and in December announced that his bill, which would provide $1.5 billion for five years to State Opioid Response Grants, passed through the House of Representatives. In May, Speaker Pelosi appointed him to the Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking.

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