MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — The Myrtle Beach Fire Department along with other local municipalities gave an update Tuesday on the progress they’ve made through their opioid response program.

The program has been working to help those suffering from addiction for the past two years. They shared the steps they are taking to help those in the community as well as what still needs to be done to continue making change.

It’s funded by the South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund, also known as SCORF.

Myrtle Beach Fire Department works to collaborate with Horry County officials, city of Conway and the city of North Myrtle Beach to create an opioid master plan.

In just under four months, opioid response specialists have helped more than 80 people and led them to treatment and recovery-based services.

SCORF has provided an opportunity to all of the recipients of the funds to provide a letter of intent to request $25,000 to be used to benefit the community.

If each local municipality provides a separate letter, that would total $100,000, which gives the program the ability to help more people and evaluate their current initiatives.

“So, this master plan that we’re hoping to take advantage of is an opportunity through the opioid settlement to where, rather than going through the application process, we can simply just provide a letter of intent,” said Michelle Smith, the program coordinator. “We would get an allotment of our funds to be able to utilize that for planning to really address the root causes of addiction [and] prevent overdoses.”

Smith said they are hoping to put a motion on the next city council agenda.