PATH Foundation Awards Make it Happen Grant to Fauquier County Sheriff’s Department

Travis Project will provide tools to counteract heroin overdoses

March 7, 2016—The PATH Foundation has awarded a $6850 Make it Happen grant to the Fauquier County Sheriff’s Department to fund the Travis Project. This new effort provides all officers with the training and tools to handle opioid overdose emergencies using naloxone, an anti-overdose medication. The project is named in memory of Travis Rose, a 27-year-old Marshall man who died of a heroin overdose in May 2015.

The training teaches officers how to recognize and respond to these emergencies, increasing the likelihood of the person’s survival. Last year, Fauquier County recorded 11 overdose deaths, nine of those were from opioids.

“Unfortunately, research shows that heroin is a growing problem in Fauquier County, and we believe this program can help the officers of the Sheriff’s Department be better equipped to handle situations where a person has overdosed,” stated Christy Connolly president and CEO of the PATH Foundation.

The Fauquier County Sheriff’s Department is the second law enforcement agency in Northern Virginia to begin equipping officers with the medication. Loudoun County Sheriff’s Deputies officials began a similar program in December. One person’s death has already been prevented by administering the anti-overdose medication.