Ten years ago, Lauren and Dan Reck opened the first two MATClinics offices in Dundalk and Towson to improve access to outpatient addiction treatment. Since then, MATClinics has expanded to eight locations across Maryland, offering medication-assisted treatment, behavioral health services, and case management. Despite this growth, some patients still face challenges accessing in-person care due to geographic or transportation barriers.
To address these issues, MATClinics now operates a mobile treatment unit—a 35-foot RV funded by a $200,000 grant from Baltimore County’s opioid abatement fund. The RV provides services three days a week at various locations including the Westside Men’s Shelter in Catonsville, the Essex library, and a former Rite Aid on Reisterstown Road in Pikesville.
Since February 2023, Baltimore County has received over $29 million from national opioid settlement agreements with pharmaceutical companies and distributors. As of June 30, 2025, about $4.2 million of those funds have been spent. Elise Andrews, the county’s opioid strategy coordinator, said officials are planning distributions carefully to ensure programs are sustainable. “The last thing we want to do too is start a bunch of initiatives that then, all of a sudden, we’re going to have to tell them to stop,” Andrews said. “Because once people start relying [on them], whether it’s harm reduction and a mobile harm reduction van where they’re getting safe supplies and receiving that trusting relationship, or if they’re receiving mobile treatment, or if they’re going to the STEP clinic, we need to make sure that they can continue to access that, [or] else we’re going to be right back in the same position.”
Baltimore County has experienced high rates of overdose deaths over the past decade. According to Maryland Department of Health data cited by Andrews, opioid-related overdoses doubled between 2014 and 2018 before dropping slightly in 2019 but increased again during the COVID-19 pandemic. “COVID happened, and people became more stressed. They lost access to their treatment. The world turned on its head for people,” Andrews said. “The fragile state … of treatment and recovery, it just eluded people’s ability in those tough times to be able to maintain that.” However, overdose deaths have declined over the past three years—from 361 in 2021 down to 179 in 2024.
Andrews highlighted several effective strategies: “What does the evidence tell us helps? Harm reduction, access to medication, engaging people in treatment and recovery, getting peer support professionals out there.”
The settlement funds are restricted for specific uses such as distributing naloxone (an overdose-reversing drug), training for its administration, medication-assisted treatments (including for pregnant or postpartum individuals), prevention efforts for babies affected by withdrawal symptoms at birth, harm reduction initiatives like syringe exchanges or vending machines dispensing naloxone at public buildings including libraries and clinics.
A significant portion of initial spending went toward providing FDA-approved medications for opioid use disorder at Baltimore County Detention Center inmates as required by state law. Other funding supports centralized substance use disorder services within the county’s drug court program; additional staff for programs serving babies born exposed to substances; and installing naloxone vending machines throughout county facilities.
“Every penny of this is significant because it is lives lost – that’s why we have this money,” Andrews said.
In 2025 Baltimore County allocated $1 million for grants supporting projects focused on harm reduction strategies—such as mobile services—and expanding access among vulnerable populations like homeless individuals or pregnant women. Applicants were required to submit detailed plans reviewed against county priorities before approval.
MATClinics was one of five recipients; another was The Daniel Carl Torsch Foundation—a nonprofit founded after Toni and Carl Torsch lost their son Dan—to operate an orange van providing food supplies alongside case management services using nearly $184,000 from the fund. Toni Torsch noted ongoing challenges with transportation access and stigma around seeking help: “They feel the stigma… We’re bringing services to them … no judgment – the only thing that we pack is a lot of compassion and services. We no longer ask why. We’re asking ‘What can we do for you? How can we help?'”
MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center received almost $250,000 from settlement funds aimed at supporting pregnant women/new mothers with opioid use disorder through new navigator positions helping connect patients with resources plus developing protocols for treating these patients across OB-GYN practices/hospital units.
“There’s often (a) shame component tied to opioid use – fear of retribution or fear of what the consequences could be for them or for their child,” said Lucas Carlson from MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center. Susanna Derocco added: “We don’t want to shame patients… There’s not a lot of training in medical school for this particular patient population…we want to offer tools…”
Chase Brexton Health Care expanded its STEP Clinic into Woodlawn using more than $214k from county grants—providing peer support/medication-assisted treatments along with primary care under flexible conditions suitable for those balancing work/family obligations while recovering from addiction.
Jessica Friedman explained: “Particularly for opioid use disorder…the medication has a remarkable success rate…helping people enter/maintain recovery…these medications can/should be prescribed in primary-care settings…”
Health Care for the Homeless also used funds toward establishing walk-in medication-assisted treatment options at its Rosedale site; hiring additional nursing/community health workers—all designed both as physical/mental health supports as well as steps toward stable housing solutions.
“It’s really helping us deliver more robust wraparound services…” said Laura Garcia from Health Care for the Homeless.
This story was originally published January 2, 2026 at 5:02 AM.
