The Addict’s Wake: Community Screening Q & A

1. How do we begin a collaboration of Recovery organizations and efforts?

Chief Mattingly: What can we do? Do Something is a common theme between communities. Who do we need to talk to? Find the solutions. Stream line and understand that there will be speed bumps along the way. Have humility to question yourself about what you’re doing. Understand that it will take time and know that we all want to do better.

McKenzie: We all serve on a lot of different committees. These include SOFR, Drug Free, and Housing Commission, so it just naturally collaborates through being on so many committees.

Macy: We now have a certified recovery community organization in Montgomery County. It is the Recovery Coalition at the Recovery Rec Center. Connie Esra is the director. I am the Board President. I am able to see through that certification process. This means we have a group of people in recovery and other leaders in the community that come together to create a safe space for folks to come in whether they are in active addiction, where their family members need support. There are multiple pathways to recovery that you can access under one roof. There is also free recovery coaching, free haircuts, and free meals. They are a free hub for the rest of the community.

Diamond: To touch on the Drug Free Montgomery County part of it, a lot of what we do is bring together organizations that are working in treatment and recovery or prevention, education, or harm reduction. Our goal is to bring together all of these organizations so that we do not recreate the wheel or duplicate services and work together as a community. That is how we got this event to happen today. Many of our leadership team are sitting on this panel here tonight. We are starting to bring everything together. We are working hard to fill gaps. We work very hard as a team to bring all the resources to the community and be sure everyone has access to them.

2. What do you see as the same or different in our community from that of the film?

Macy: Some of the similarities that I saw were just the devastation that opioid overdoses have on our community, and just losing those that we love to substance use in general. When I started working in this field 6 or 7 years ago, we had a billboard that the health department put up that got a lot of attention. From that, we created the opioid counsel which later became the drug free leadership committee. We saw this movement based on loss and from that loss we have all come together and built a cohesive collaborative system so that we can respond better to those that need us.

Captain King: Not to speak badly about Brown County at all, but something that they struggled with clearly in the video that they have since changed and are progressing with is the programs that are in the jail. Our jail has a ton of programs, all of which we make the room for. By that I mean we don’t have the space, we make the space. We have without going through the entire list NA, AA, JCAP, we can go on and on. Half of these individuals sitting here right now are in the jail nearly daily running on of these programs. That is something that I feel is different from the film. Why come to jail and just turn around and leave and ask what assistance were you given? What good did it do for you to sit in jail? That is something that we have taken to heart. I think as a community there is enough assistance financially and emotionally to help. The JCAP program initially started as a grant. The grant ran out 7 years ago and we still have it running today. That was because the Sheriff decided that we were going to pay for it.

Chief Mattingly: Substance use disorder doesn’t discriminate. Regardless of what socioeconomical status a person or family may be in. Loved ones unfortunately do succumb to the disorder or disease and as a community the layers of support we bring together and having a better understanding of stopping death which is the reason for the Naloxone boxes throughout the county. This has been a huge step. This accomplishes a couple of things. One, it keeps the conversation going. Secondly, it really works to reduce the stigma associated with substance use disorder. Understanding that almost everybody in this room has a loved one with impacted with substance use disorder.

Connie: We also have QRT and Wrap Around services and I think one of the things that Montgomery County is doing so well is that there can be a disturbance and the police go and they notice that the individual is in need of behavioral health services and they will immediately get them in contact with who they need to get the help that they need. It is the whole county working together as one.

3. What are some of the prevention efforts happening in our community?

Diamond: A big part of Drug Free Montgomery County is prevention and education. We have several curriculums that are designed to talk to our youth. These curriculums are designed to talk about coping strategies, resiliency, and education on what they can do and who they can talk to.  We now have three different curriculums in Montgomery County in all three school systems. These are Prime for Life, Too Good for Drugs, and This is not about Drugs. It’s all about starting those conversations early and having those hard conversations. Reducing the stigma and making sure they have the tools and the education and resources they need to succeed.

McKenzie: Speaking about the youth services, Cummins and Valley Oaks both work in the schools as well with those who may be struggling. We also have a youth IOT, which is intensive outpatient treatment, if a youth is identified with a significant mental health disorder. We also have one specifically for substance use disorder.

Brianna: Addressing mental health concerns at an early age as well as the families helps get ahead.

4. What support or resources are needed to help fill in the gaps in our most vulnerable communities?

Macy: One thing we do is look at the coverage of the community needs and as the jail commander was saying is how we have services in jail, we also meet them in the hospital. When they are in the emergency room for an overdose, then when they are released back out, they are at a higher risk of dying. As Chief Mattingly was saying earlier, we want to reduce death. We want reduce overdose death. So, we have our QRT hotline and our peers on call that go to the hospital and meet people where they are and get them placed in a treatment facility and ensure that they are set up with outpatient as well, so they are not falling through the cracks. If for some reason, we are not contacted, we follow up with them on Tuesdays. We go out into the community and do warm outreaches. Another place we found that was really creative is the library. If you are unhoused and released from jail and I need to charge my phone or use the restroom, the library is what we have found to be a safe haven for folks. We have now placed a resource navigator at the library to capture folks there and ensure they have what they need. We go out to the truck stops and gas stations and distribute Narcan and sharps containers.

Chief Mattingly: When we look at gaps with the community it’s always transportation or lack of transportation for some individuals. Not everyone has the consistency to walk to work every day for 6 months straight. We are working together as a community to try and expand and find a way to provide more for our community.

McKenzie: We do have housing coalition where we do try to work on ways to get individuals in recovery where they need to be.

5. To those who are in active recovery, what are your greatest challenges?

Macy: I am in long term recovery for substance use and addiction. I have been in active recovery for 10 years. Recovery is possible. In early recovery, some of the biggest challenges that you face is when I got out of jail I had nothing. I didn’t have a drivers license, no clothes, no place to sleep. My aunt had a toddler bed for her grandson, and I was just happy to have somewhere to lay my head. When we don’t know what to do, we do what we know. What I knew was to get high when I was struggling. Getting out of jail was a struggle. It took every ounce to not use again. Some of the things that helped me were having a drug testing hotline. I successfully completed 18 months of probation. We must show compassion and love because it does not come easy. Having a felony when you’re trying to get a place to live or you’re trying to get a job, I waited tables my whole life and I couldn’t get a job at Cracker Barrel. It really knocked me down. I’m big on Anti-Stigma. It took me a long time to be able to sit here and say that I am a person in long term recovery and not an addict junkie. I am not my disease, I am not a junkie, and I am not a felon. When we think about how we talk about folks with addiction issues, we must call them what they are, they are people.

Connie: The hardest thing about recovery is you must change everything about yourself. Imagine waking up tomorrow and someone telling you that you must change all your friends, all the places you go, and all the things you do because they are destroying your life. That is a hard pill to swallow. I was always really good at making about 6 months in recovery and I would realize I did that several times. Then the last time I went to jail, when they released me, I was so afraid of relapsing that I stayed in my last rehab for 2.5 years. That is what it took. It took those people wrapping me up in accountability, love, and having faith in me that I could do it to get me where I am today.

6. What is one thing you would want to see happen that would have the greatest impact on the community?

Everyone: Housing, Transportation

Diamond: I think you can tell that we are all in agreement that housing and transportation are big issues that we would like to go about in the correct way in our community. We are working on those things. It’s like a puzzle. There are many pieces. We talk about it every single day in every single meeting. We are paying attention to that. We talk to the people we serve to make sure we hear them.

Macy: Just wanted to mention the need for supported housing. When we get out of jail it is our most vulnerable time. When someone gets out of jail and has nowhere to sleep and its freezing cold and the person that I know Is still using says I can sleep on their couch, I am sleeping on their couch. If we don’t create a safe place for those we serve, they are going to end up where they shouldn’t be.

Chief Mattingly: We need to expand our Quick Response Team. We need to plaster the phone number everywhere. You never know when that day is going to come. We need people to listen. When that day comes, today is the day, the time is now, call QRT. Call whoever you need to, to get those services started.

Connie: As a person in long term recovery, I know that there is a small window of time, 10 maybe 15 minutes I thought I have got to get help. Help was not available. I couldn’t get even started in those 10 or 15 minutes, so I gave up and started using again. So, if we can get them help in that window, it is going to make so much of a difference. QRT does this so well.