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Myrtle Beach welcomes Opioid Program Coordinator to the team

NOVEMBER 17, 2022

Please help the City of Myrtle Beach welcome a new face in a new position. Michelle Smith is the City of Myrtle Beach’s first Opioid Program Coordinator. The position is within the Myrtle Beach Fire Department.
Michelle Smith is originally from Bethel, Connecticut, and, like many of us, moved to Myrtle Beach. She came to the area in 2004 and is a graduate of Carolina Forest High School and Coastal Carolina University. Michelle graduated from Coastal Carolina University with a major in Sociology, concentration in Criminology and received the Sociology Department’s Outstanding Student Achievement award for 2011-2012.
Michelle Smith joins the City of Myrtle Beach team after spending almost a decade in the Horry County Solicitor’s Intervention Programs. While serving most recently as the Senior Case Manager for the Pre-Trial Intervention Program, she supervised case work activities involving various criminal charges, with many of them related to opioid dependency. Michelle would connect community resources and treatment plans to the client and monitor progress and compliance throughout the case.
The Opioid Program Coordinator position was created within Myrtle Beach as part of the Opioid Settlement Agreement earlier this year. When asked why she wanted to be the first program coordinator, she explained “I have always had a deep desire to help people within my community. When the Opioid Program Coordinator position became available, I felt as though this change in career was my calling and this was my opportunity to make an incredible impact on our community. As with most people, I am not one who likes change, but could not ignore this opportunity. I am thrilled to be able to serve my community through a position that holds such immense potential.”
Michelle will eventually hire two more people to join her team as part of Myrtle Beach’s new Opioid Program. “We will be a multi-faceted response team, each having specific areas of expertise and roles. My vision is for us to battle the opioid epidemic within the Myrtle Beach community through preventative outreach initiatives as well as emergency response to individuals with opioid use disorder in crisis. We will provide empathetic and therapeutic support through community engagement of resources to encourage and facilitate recovery,” she said.
Michelle lives in the Grand Strand with her husband and two children, Luke and Nora. The family also has a sugar glider named Luna. Welcome to the team, Michelle!