Treating the problem locally
Turtle Creek residents treated for substance abuse last year at New Freedom Recovery Center in Irwin often mentioned an arresting officer or borough official as their referral to the inpatient detox and counseling facility, says director Sherry Philips.
“A lot of them have said they got the number from an officer, or they picked up a pamphlet in the reception area of the [police department].”
But not everyone can be treated, due to a lack of beds, government funding or health insurance, Philips says. “There used to be county funding, but now there’s a delay with that.”
And outpatient treatment, offered at no cost by more than a dozen churches and nonprofits in the Pittsburgh area, comes with a low success rate for long-time users, according to medical experts.
“Their brain is injured, and they don’t know how to deal with stress,” says Dr. Harold Urschel, chief medical strategist at Enterhealth, in Dallas, Texas. “They need resident time to have a chance to get better.”
On a recent night at the borough building, Kelley met with Tinsley to brainstorm new treatment options for residents. A hand-drawn sign from Kelley’s niece reading “I love mayor Ni Ni” hangs on the wall behind her. Stacked on a shelf are free toys for kids in the community, leftover from a recent event. She sits at the same desk her father used when he was mayor in the early 1980s, though she laughs when asked if she had political aspirations as a young adult.
Then, life happened, the heroin epidemic happened and she’s found herself in a position to help. So after a full day of work as a grant writer for the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, long after the sun has gone down, she sits with Tinsley in her office.
Kelley says she hopes to partner with a nearby facility and a nonprofit group to provide more affordable long-term treatment. And in the meantime, assuming she’s a certified counselor this year, she could work with residents firsthand. Tinsley, who says Kelley inspired her to run for council, plans to offer yoga classes to help residents in recovery transition from a treatment center to everyday life.
One of the hardest stages of recovery was the homecoming, says Kevin Kelley, who after long-term, in-patient treatment moved to a transitional house with other people in recovery. Then he went home, where a fix was at the bar down the street or just a phone call away.
Seven years of sobriety later, Kevin is a lieutenant with the Turtle Creek Fire Department and a volunteer with an advocacy group for substance-abuse treatment. He says the only time he thinks about heroin or prescription opioids is when it comes up at community meetings, which he often attends to answer residents’ questions about addiction. Borough officials say it’s important for residents to put a face to a successful recovery.
“We need to show people that [addicts] can turn it around,” Kelley Kelley says. “I thought at one point my husband would die, but that didn’t happen.”
Kevin says he hopes an open discussion will inspire friends and family members of addicts to offer support, rather than deny the problem or break ties.
“I knew I had a problem and I knew I needed help, but I didn’t want to be looked at a certain way because of the stigma,” he says. “I just kept hiding and hoping one day I’d wake up and be well.”
