Martinsburg Initiative asks county to sustain school-based social workers and expand shelter services

Margaret (introduced as Margaret Kurzhi) gave the board an overview of the Martinsburg Initiative’s work and budget priorities. The initiative operates school-based social-work teams across Berkeley County (16 social workers reported), police social workers embedded with local departments, a community resource closet that provides basic needs (diapers, coats, blankets), and crisis-intervention training for first responders.

Margaret reported that the initiative opened a cold-weather shelter on Jan. 1, staffed from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.; she told the board that the shelter served 21 people the previous night and described funding sources that helped start the shelter (city council support and supplemental grants). She highlighted a decline in local overdose fatalities in 2024 (the presentation cites 33 overdose fatalities in 2024) and attributed improvements to a combination of naloxone availability, prevention messaging and treatment/recovery supports.

She described drug-free coalitions (an adult coalition and four high-school coalitions plus university and Jefferson County partnerships) and asked for county consideration of funding to expand the shelter (start earlier in the season next winter), support coalition work and sustain school-based social work and mentoring programs.

Commissioners asked about grant sources and tracking of overdose-fatality data; Margaret said the initiative compiles data from hospital and EMS dashboards and other public sources and that the program’s funding is a mix of federal grants, foundation support and smaller state pass-throughs.