In a boost for people recovering from substance abuse on the Island, Martha’s Vineyard Community Services has been awarded $400,000 from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to open a recovery support center in partnership with the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital.

A final contract with the state is still being negotiated, but Community Services executive director Julie Fay said Thursday the funds will cover the cost of operating a recovery center that will be located in the Red House, a crisis stabilization center adjacent to the hospital. She said Community Services plans to renovate the space, which is leased from the hospital, and hire four staff members to run the new center.

A relatively new concept, recovery support centers offer places where people recovering from drug and alcohol addiction and their families can find fellowship, advocacy, skills training and assistance with jobs and housing. Centers are intended for people who are already in recovery and do not offer medical assistance or overnight stays.

Ms. Fay said the contract is one of eight awarded by DPH for recovery centers around the state. Community Services was among 29 applicants and received assistance from the Substance Use Disorder Coalition in preparing the application, she said. The grant request was prepared by Catherine Flynn, contracts coordinator for Community Services.

“We took a good hard look at it and thought this would be a beautiful opportunity for the Island,” Ms. Fay said. “It’s a brand new thing . . . a place where a person in recovery can go to find a whole range of support.”

She said the center will fill in a gap in Island services by offering support for people who have been recovery from substance abuse for decades or just a few months. The center will work in collaboration with other agencies including Vineyard House, the Island sober living community in VIneyard Haven, and the Suboxone clinic run by Community Services, she said.

“It’s not a 12-step program, drop-in center or recovery coach program . . . though it has aspects of all of those,” Ms. Fay said. “This is a place where people in recovery can go, get support and socialize. The services can complement other programs in the community . . . and help people in establishing a proactive, meaningful life.”

Substance use disorders can include alcohol and drug addiction, with alcohol abuse the most common on the Vineyard according to numbers collected by Community Services from 2016 to 2017 from people requesting detox services.

As for opioid use, DPH statistics show that from 2011 to 2015 the state population of people with opioid use disorder grew by 4.4 per cent, while nonfatal overdoses went up more than 200 per cent. Dukes County has seen a similar trend, with opioid-related overdose death rates rising from zero in 2011 to seven in 2015.

A timeline for opening the center will be decided after a contract with the state is completed.