Mamdani Invests $12 Million in ‘Peer Army’ to Support Addiction Recovery
As published in MindSite News, May 12, 2026
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Mayor Mamdani Invests $12 Million Into Peer-Led Substance Use Recovery Across NYC
By Diana Hembree, MindSite News
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani will expand access to life-saving recovery services for New Yorkers at risk of overdose by creating a “peer army” to support them.
Speaking at a press conference at the Brooklyn site of Phoenix House, a drug and alcohol recovery center, Mamdani said he’ll invest $12 million from the city’s opioid settlement fund over four years to help substance use recovery organizations across the city hire hundreds of people who have had their own experience with drug or alcohol addiction and have been trained to help others.
The money will be used to certify and employ the “peer specialists” — people with a history of substance-use disorder – creating 500 new positions in community-based organizations citywide.
Although overdose deaths have been declining in New York City, overdose is still a public health emergency. “Every five hours, someone dies of a drug overdose in NYC,” the city’s health department reports. In fact, data shows that New Yorkers in parts of the South Bronx and Harlem – as well as older Black New Yorkers – continue to die from overdoses at much higher rates than the rest of the city.
“Every New Yorker deserves access to care, dignity and support, no matter where they are in their recovery journey,” said Mamdani. The investment, he said, “will help connect New Yorkers to life-saving services while creating hundreds of good-paying jobs rooted in lived experience and community trust.”
The peers will go through a standard training program and obtain state certification to provide treatment and harm reduction services, including overdose reversal drugs like naloxone.
Ann-Marie Foster, president and CEO of Phoenix House, said her agency will launch a mobile unit “to expand access to critical mental health services, bring care directly into neighborhoods and strengthen trust through peer-led support.”
The use of peers is especially important, “because they understand firsthand what people are going through and can build trust in ways others can’t,” said Mitchell Netburn, president and CEO of Samaritan Daytop Village. “At Samaritan Daytop Village, our peers are on the frontlines of our efforts to help people begin and stay on their recovery journey. We can’t do this work without the support of our peers.”
The peer support effort is part of the city’s broader HealthyNYC initiative, whose goal is to reduce overdose deaths by 25% by 2030 and increase life expectancy for all New Yorkers.
The work is supported by $189.5 million in opioid settlement funds received so far by the city, which plans to devote about $50 million a year over four years to prevention, treatment, recovery and harm reduction programs, according to a budget document from the mayor’s office.
