On Wednesday, the New Kensington Community Development Corporation (NKCDC) announced that six neighborhood parks will receive funding from the City's opioid settlement fund.
The opioid settlement resulted from a four-year legal battle called the National Prescription Opiate Litigation. The litigation included a consolidation of over 200 lawsuits from 2007-2021.
The party that initiated the litigation was the Plaintiff's Executive Committee (PEC), which represents over 3,000 U.S. communities impacted by the opioid overdose crisis. The defendants included pharmaceutical distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, McKesson, and pharmaceutical manufacturer Johnson & Johnson.
The litigation settlement required the defendants to provide $26 billion for the opioid settlement fund due to their role in the opioid crisis. Money from the settlement fund is distributed to each state based on a mathematical formula that calculates the opioid crisis' impact.
Each state controls how to distribute the funding allocated to it. Each of their publicly reported plans is available here. Pennsylvania received more than $1 billion. The state posted its plans for the funds here.
According to the City, Philadelphia will receive $200 million over 18 years. Of that funding, the City is receiving $20 million for 2023.
Now, NKCDC is urging residents to attend meetings at their local parks to provide input about how the park money should be spent.
See the parks and meeting times below.
Harrowgate Park
Residents 3455 Kensington Ave
Wednesday, June 28, 5:30 PM
Hope Park
3035 A St
Monday, June 26, 5:30 PM
McPherson Square Park
McPherson Square Branch Library, 601 E Indiana Ave
Tuesday, June 27, 5:30 PM
Can’t make it to the meeting? Complete the survey here: https://buff.ly/42Pf3zZ
Hissey Playground
400 E Indiana Ave
Friday, June 30, 5:30 PM
Scanlon Playground
1099 E Venango St
Thursday, June 29, 5:30 PM
Trenton & Auburn Playground & Park
Disney-Nichols AME Church, 2838 Tulip St, or by Zoom
Thursday, June 22, 6:30 PM, repeating the fourth Thursday of every month
