Healthcare Foundation of Wilson Gives $157,000 Grant to Wilson Center to fight Opioid Crisis

Healthcare Foundation of Wilson Gives $157,000 Grant to Wilson Center to fight Opioid Crisis

9/26/2017

Wilson center opens to fight Opioid Crisis in Wilson County
Originially shared by The Daily Reflector

 

By Olivia Neeley
The Wilson Times

When Erin Day was in middle school she told her mother, “I think you might have a problem.” Day was 17 when her mother eventually went into substance abuse disorder treatment for the first time. Several years later, her mother went into treatment for a second time.
“Why do we stay, support, clean up after, seek treatment for them and ourselves — invest our hearts, souls and finances into their treatment and recovery?” Day asked a crowd of local and state leaders Saturday. “My dad says, ‘It’s because we make allowances for the people we love.’”
Day, executive director of the Wilson County Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition, shared the story for the first time publicly at the grand opening of Wilson’s Recovery Concepts Community Center or RC3.

The center will help in the fight against the opioid crisis by providing support to people who are in recovery from a substance use disorder and creating a space that is recovery informed, healthy and friendly, officials say.

“It is with passion and courage that we are able to open this center’s doors today,” Day told those in attendance. “Three years ago, we had a big dream. Today, that dream becomes a reality, and we hope to serve our recovery community and their families.”

Day’s mother, who was in the crowd Saturday for the big event, will celebrate nine years of working and maintaining her recovery in November.

Center’s inception
Day said the idea for the recovery center began nearly three years ago. The coalition and various partners began planning and preparing the Wilson community through education and awareness. Thanks to a $157,000 grant from the Healthcare Foundation of Wilson, the project was made possible. They shared in the vision for the recovery center, too.
Denise O’Hara, executive director of the Healthcare Foundation of Wilson, said the board recognized that, “We as a community needed to be on the forefront in the state of North Carolina to do something great.”

The Wilson County Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition, along with several community organizations spearheaded the project.

Day said the recovery center has been a labor of love, and she is excited about what it will mean for those in recovery, their families and the community.

RC3 is located at 2860 Ward Blvd. Suite C. It is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

RC3, with the help of various partnerships, will provide a variety of programs and initiatives to meet the needs of people are who working to maintain their recovery, including expungement clinics, mindfulness classes, family events and recovery groups. Officials said it can also be a place to simply hang out at the center to watch TV and being in a healthy safe space.

“We hope that the recovery community will want to be here,” Day said. “We hope they will see us as an asset to their sustained recovery through a reduction of stigma and the empowerment to live a fulfilled, robust, thriving life of recovery.”

Rob Boyette, Wilson County commissioner, said the center is important.

“I hope that everyone understands that we have one of the most successful substance abuse coalitions anywhere in North Carolina,” he told the crowd. “And today, is an example of how wonderful things in Wilson County can continue to be as this coalition of people who care continue to work.”

Partners include Eastpointe Managed Care Organization, N.C. Parent Resource Center, Wilson County Department of Social Services, Barton College, Wilson Community College, Wilson County Health Department and the Mental Health Association in Wilson County. Local attorneys, artists, therapists and mental and physical health professional will donate their time to the center.

Drug crisis
Steve Mange, policy director for the N.C. Attorney General’s Office, said officials know that drug overdoses are the leading cause of accidental deaths in North Carolina and in the United States. He said the deaths have overtaken gunshot wounds and car crashes. Last year in North Carolina, there were more overdose reversals using naloxone than there were overdose deaths.

“That’s a key turning point,” Mange told the crowd. “More lives are being saved with naloxone than are being lost to the opioid epidemic. It’s a sign of hope.”

Mange said by working together, the trajectory of the epidemic can be changed.

“This facility and this effort is a great testament to the tremendous work of your county prevention coalition,” he said. “It’s very inspiring to see this type of effort come together. You all are truly blazing the path for the rest of the state to follow.”

Fighting together
Officials say only 1 in 10 who need treatment get treatment. They hope this center is a catalyst to change that.

“This is a very exciting time, and this recovery center is one of the answers to the opioid epidemic,” said Donald McDonald, director of advocacy and education with Recovery Communities of N.C. “North Carolina is experiencing a public health crisis of epidemic proportions, and what we’re seeing around the state are creative solutions between law enforcement and communities of recovery, and that’s what’s happening in Wilson.”

McDonald said there are only 10 recovery community centers like Wilson’s RC3 in the state. He said those numbers need to be much higher.

“That is far from enough,” McDonald said. “What we envision are recovery community centers in all 100 counties in North Carolina because the opioid epidemic is everywhere. It’s not an urban problem. It’s not a rural problem. It’s everybody’s problem and recovery is everybody’s responsibility.”

Other leaders in attendance Saturday included Wilson County commissioner Sherry Lucas, Wilson Mayor Bruce Rose, Wilson County Sheriff Calvin Woodard and representatives from the Wilson Police Department, Eastpointe Managed Care Organization.

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