Last updated: August 2026
By Price County Fun Editorial Team | Last updated: August 25, 2026
A stranger walked into His House of Hope yesterday and handed over $4,000. Twenty minutes later she was gone. Board member Mark Distin told the Opioid Ad-Hoc Committee the woman came in from elsewhere in the state, unannounced, and said she’d heard what the recovery home was doing. She gave the check and left. “I hear what you’re doing,” she told staff, per Distin. “I support this. Take this.”
Quick Answer: The Price County Opioid Ad-Hoc Committee held its fourth and final scheduled meeting on August 12, 2026, and voted to forward a roughly $285,000 three-year spending plan to the Health & Human Services Board. The county has now received approximately $287,000 in opioid settlement funds, up about $12,000 since the committee’s July report of $250,123. The plan funds schools, public health, His House of Hope, behavioral health, and a drug-screening set-aside. The HHS Board is expected to take up the plan in September, followed by the full County Board.
What Did the Opioid Ad-Hoc Committee Decide on August 12?
The committee met at noon and wrapped up in about forty minutes. There were no objections, no amendments, and no second guessing.
Finance staff had built a spreadsheet assigning every proposed item to a funding bucket that qualifies under the settlement’s terms. The sheet runs three years out, with roughly $285,000 of spending planned. Tiffany Palachek, a committee member, made the motion to send it up. It carried with no dissenting votes. The next stop is the Health & Human Services Board, which meets in September.
The Numbers Behind the Plan
Here’s what the committee is working with, per the meeting discussion:
- Total received to date: roughly $287,000 (up about $12,000 from the $250,123 reported at the July 8 meeting)
- Three-year spending plan: approximately $285,000
- Ongoing income after year three: less than $15,000 a year, per county administration
- Funding must tie to opioid use under the settlement terms
County staff said the money does not have to be spent all at once. The committee can bank funds for multi-year programs. Whatever isn’t allocated in the first three years can be doled out later, once the HHS Board signs off on each annual piece.
Who Gets What (from the committee discussion)
Distin wasn’t the only voice. The committee discussed where each dollar lands.
Schools: assembly speakers on opioids and youth-support programming across the county’s districts. Public health and coalition work: roughly $45,000 over two years. His House of Hope: money for the Genesis Process, a security system, and a vehicle. Behavioral health: about $38,500. Drug screening: roughly $40,000 set aside. Advertising: about $5,000.
These last four figures carry over from the committee’s July 8 working list and the spreadsheet carried through to the August 12 discussion. The August 12 transcript confirms the schools line and His House of Hope line directly; the rest come from the committee’s own earlier tracking. None are locked in a signed resolution yet.
Why His House of Hope Keeps Coming Back to the Committee
His House of Hope runs a residential recovery home for men in Price County. Capacity is eight beds. Two men who started about two months ago are already working and expect to move to full-time local jobs within 30 days, Distin said.
Distin described the home’s model as working upstream from law enforcement and hospitals. Men must apply and qualify; it’s not a drop-in halfway house. The county’s prior coverage of the home, from the June and July committee meetings, laid out the same framework. The home has two tracks, roughly nine months and 18 months depending on the individual.
About the Genesis Process
The center wants county money for the Genesis Process, a structured recovery curriculum. Distin told the committee two staff are being certified as on-site facilitators, and he noted the program is also used in parts of the UK. He was candid that the home hasn’t rolled it out to residents yet.
The curriculum is still being stood up. Distin said a roughly three-day training session with program staff is planned, plus an ongoing consultation module so someone nationally who understands the center’s operation keeps coaching them.
One Question the Committee Couldn’t Answer Yet
Rachel from the school side pressed Distin on whether the program could work in a secular school setting. Genesis is faith-based at its core, and the schools can’t run faith-based programming with certain funding. Distin acknowledged they’d need to find out whether components can be stripped out to make it non-secular. On the funding paperwork itself, he said, faith-based programming is explicitly allowed.
That open question is one reason the schools line on the plan reads flexible: assembly speakers on opioids, or youth support programs the district can actually deliver.
The $4,000 Check Nobody Asked For
Distin’s best story wasn’t about county money. It was about a stranger.
“Some woman came in from elsewhere in the state yesterday, unannounced, and asked for a few minutes,” Distin told the committee. “She handed over a $4,000 check. She said, ‘I hear what you’re doing. I support this. Take this.’ Then she left.”
He called the home “getting legs.” The unsolicited gift came as the committee debated whether to put county settlement dollars behind the same organization. Distin’s point: the program’s starting to stand on its own, and county money would let it grow to 16 to 20 beds and eventually a women’s track.
What Comes Next for the Opioid Money
Nothing is spent yet. The August 12 vote just moves the plan one step closer.
The chain now runs: Ad-Hoc Committee (done, forwarded) → HHS Board (September) → full County Board (two steps from the committee). Staff told the panel the exact dollar allocations and the resolution language get drafted at the HHS stage. The HHS Board’s next meeting was set for the week of September 8-9.
What to Watch in September
Three things we’ll be tracking:
- Whether the full County Board adopts the resolution and locks the $285,000 in writing, or trims individual lines.
- The school-line flexibility. The committee kept “assembly speakers on opioids OR youth support programs” open precisely so districts can decide. Watch which districts actually take programming.
- His House of Hope’s build-out. If the plan passes, the Genesis program, security, and vehicle funds land together. If the faith-based question derails the schools piece, the home’s line could get scrutinized.
Price County’s full backdrop on the money is in our finalization explainer and our tracking piece. The home’s pitch from the June meeting is in our His House of Hope coverage.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much opioid settlement money has Price County received so far?
Roughly $287,000 as of the August 12 committee meeting, up about $12,000 from the $250,000 reported a month earlier. Income is expected to slow to less than $15,000 a year after the initial period.
How much is in the three-year spending plan?
Approximately $285,000, spread across schools, public health, behavioral health, His House of Hope, drug screening, and advertising. These figures are from the committee discussion and spreadsheet, not a finalized resolution.
Has the money been spent?
No. The Ad-Hoc Committee voted to forward the plan. The Health & Human Services Board must approve it first, then the full County Board signs off.
Is His House of Hope getting county money?
The plan sets aside funds for the home’s Genesis program, a security system, and a vehicle, per the committee discussion. The organization also reported receiving a $4,000 unsolicited donation from a woman who visited this month.
When will the County Board vote?
The HHS Board is expected to take the plan up at its September meeting, then draft a resolution for the full County Board. Nothing becomes official until that final vote.
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