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Recovery resource fair aims to break down stigma of substance abuse

06.21.21

Seen in: The Post Star

Saturday, June 19, 2021

Recovery resource fair aims to break down stigma of substance abuse

SOUTH GLENS FALLS — Brendan Norton was three years into his recovery before he told those closest to him he was having substance-use issues.

When he finally came clean, Norton said he was overcome with a sense of relief and received an outpouring of love and support from everyone around him. It’s a response that set him down a new path in life, he said.

“It was kind of nerve-wracking at first because I have never done anything like that before, but the more I talked about it and the more I shared — I say now that I recover loudly so people don’t die silently,” he said.

Norton, now a family counselor for Healing Springs — a Saratoga Springs-based recovery network that provides support services to those in recovery and their families throughout Saratoga County — was one of around two dozen people representing 18 organizations during a recovery resource fair hosted at the Moreau Community Center on Saturday.

The fair comes amid a surge in overdose deaths nationwide over the past year.

More than 81,000 overdose deaths were reported in the U.S. in the year preceding May 2020, the most in a 12-month period, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Overdoses are continuing to trend upward both locally and on the national level, according to Judy Moffitt, a recovery coach for families and co-chair of Friends of Recovery — Warren and Washington.

“We have lost a lot of friends,” she said.

Moffitt, who lost a son to an overdose, said there’s still a stigma attached to what she referred to as substance-use disorder (words like “addiction” and “addict” add to the stigma, she said). The stigma can only be overcome by education that starts on the grassroots level.

“We know education is so needed. This isn’t people go to treatment and then they’re done. This is a lifelong struggle that many people have,” she said.

But the pandemic has pushed recovery resources to the brink, said Katherine Chambers, director of restorative practices at Hope & Healing, a Hudson Falls-based recovery network that services Warren and Washington counties.

The recovery community, she said, often relies on those in recovery who have firsthand experience in battling substance issues and navigating the recovery process.

But with a growing number of stressors triggered by the pandemic, Chambers said many in the community are struggling to maintain their own recovery, which has made it difficult for others seeking to begin their own journey in finding help.

“These are individuals that are trying to maintain their own recovery in a really strong healthy way and being sort of bombarded in this vicarious way with this trauma of other experiences,” Chambers said.

“Then you compile that with COVID and isolation and mental health stressors … and you have sort of a snowball effect.”

Chambers added resources are still available locally, and she urged anyone dealing with substance-use disorder to reach out.

Lillian McCarthy, director of Healing Springs, agreed, adding it’s important for people to be open about their struggles.

Not only will the honesty be beneficial to a person’s own health, but it will help eliminate the stigma associated with substance-use disorder, which keeps so many from seeking help, she said.

“The way we’re going to break down that stigma is by being open and honest. Sharing experiences and not being afraid to,” McCarthy said. “The more we’re afraid and the more we keep it to ourselves, the more it is an issue.”

Overdose drug Narcan training in Saratoga Springs

03.15.16

March 14, 2016

Featured on: WRGB Albany 6 News

Link to full coverage can be found here: http://cbs6albany.com/news/local/overdose-drug-narcan-training-in-saratoga-springs

 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — A one-hour training session on how to use a drug that reverses an opioid or heroin overdose will be offered for the first time in Saratoga County Monday afternoon.

The Saratoga Springs Prevention Council, along with Catholic Charities are putting on the session. The hope is to get the general public involved in the fight against heroin by training them to administer Narcan.

New York is one of a handful of states where more people die every year from a drug overdose, than from car accidents. The number of deaths in the U.S. from heroin increased 6-fold from 2001 to 2014 according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse.

The makers of the reversal drug Narcan say it works within five minutes of administration. The drug knocks out those opiate or heroin receptors in the brain and can help a person start breathing normally again. The drug is given by nasal spray and within the last month independent pharmacies across the state are now allowed to hand out the drug. Both medical and non-medical persons can administer the drug.

“As opioids continue to be used in our county and throughout the country and there are more frequent overdoses than we’ve experienced before it’s important to have this training available and to have people in the community ready to respond,” Prevention Council Executive Director Janine Stuchin said.

The free session will be held at the Saratoga Springs Public Library from 3-4 p.m.

In addition to the March 14 training, other upcoming training dates are April 11 in Mechanicville; April 25 in Moreau, May 9 in Schuylerville, May 23 in Saratoga Springs, June 13 in South Glens Falls, June 27 in Vischer Ferry, July 13 in Hadley, July 25 in Charlton, Aug. 8 in Galway; Aug. 22 in Wilton, Sept. 12 in Clifton Park, Sept. 26 in Stillwater, Oct. 10 in Waterford, Oct. 24 in Malta, Nov. 14 in Wilton, and Dec. 12 in Ballston Spa. All sessions are from 6-7 p.m.

Details on locations and registration are available from the Prevention Council in Saratoga Springs, 581-1230, or on its website.

New effort announced to curb heroin overdoses

03.10.16

March 9, 2016

Featured on: WRGB Albany-CBS6

Link to feature can be found at: http://cbs6albany.com/news/local/new-effort-announced-to-curb-heroin-overdoses

SARATOGA SPRINGS-There’s new partnership to prevent heroin overdoses in our area.

The Saratoga Springs Prevention Council, along with Catholic Charities, have announced new training programs to deal with the growing problem.

The hope is to get the general public involved in the fight against heroin by training them to administer Narcan, a drug used to save someone who’s overdosing.

“As opioids continue to be used in our county and throughout the country and there are more frequent overdoses than we’ve experienced before it’s important to have this training available and to have people in the community ready to respond ” says Janine Stuchin, Executive Director of the Prevention Council.

Training is free and will be open to the public through the rest of the year.

Muddy crowd loves Prevention Council’s Tuff Enuff obstacle course

06.08.15

Featured in The Saratogian

June 6, 2015

Story By Jennie Grey

Link to full article can be found here: http://www.saratogian.com/general-news/20150606/muddy-crowd-loves-prevention-councils-tuff-enuff-obstacle-course

Ayla Olsen is 11 years old, the youngest of four siblings and the only girl, but she kept up with her brothers and had just as much fun during the June 6 Tuff Enuff race, which raises money annually for the nonprofit Prevention Council. Trina and Corbin Olsen could pick their daughter out of the muddy crowd of 500 runners by her Disney World T-shirt, which shows a certain small green personage on the back and comments, “Judge me by my size, do you?” on the front. Ayla’s race number just covered Yoda’s question mark.

After crossing the finish line at the Henning Road BOCES campus, Ayla came up to her parents, smiling, shivering and thoroughly drenched, from her sneakers to her hair tie. She had come in 25th in this, her first Tuff Enuff.

“I had fun,” she said. “Now I’d like a hot bath.”

Her brother Ross, 12, shivering cheerfully next to her, added, “Or a hot shower.”

During the race, the Olsen children had encountered plenty of water; alas, none of it very warm or very clear. Tuff Enuff is all about the mud – deep, squishy, oozy mud stacked into hills and carved into ditches crossed by logs. BOCES heavy equipment students designed and built the course.

“Helping youth navigate life’s challenges’ is the Prevention Council’s slogan,” said event coordinator Deirdre Ladd, a marketing strategist at Marketing for Good. “So having an obstacle course in which participants have to crawl uphill, help each other and get down in the muddy trenches seemed like a great idea for a community fundraiser.”

In Saratoga County, the Prevention Council has spent 35 years working with the community to improve health and wellness, and to reduce the impact of drug, alcohol and other substance use.

“This race is our mission in motion,” said Prevention Council Executive Director Janine Stuchin.

Children had their own race first, on a slightly less slippery part of the course; then adults ran a longer 5K around the campus and through the obstacles.

BOCES criminal justice classes helped with parking and crowd control. This year, the culinary arts students made take-out picnic food for purchase after the race.

Everyone started out clean and cheerful, and ended up completely filthy, but still enthusiastic — sometimes more so.

“I was the first female finisher!” said Ashley Weller, 27, of South Glens Falls.

 

She ran last year with her cousin, 15-year-old Darwin Weller. This year, they had both set out to better their times, and they did. They also took along Taylor Beaury, the 8-year-old son of Ashley’s coworker.

“That was big water,” Beaury said, dripping.

Ashley agreed: “I think there was more water than last year.”

She had volunteered at Tuff Enuff two years ago and found the race so much fun that she just couldn’t stand on the sidelines another time.

Tim Luse, a 13-year-old Maple Avenue Middle School student, had run with a group of his friends. At the finish, he trotted over to his parents, oozing water from his sneakers, but still smiling.

“It was fun,” he said. “But it was hard to go through all of that — a lot harder than I thought it would be.”

Luse’s mother, Kyle, was prepared with a post-race bag of towels and clean clothes, which relieved his father, Tim Sr. (Many Tuff Enuff parents happily cheer on their kids, but share a small worry about the family car.)

“We are extremely proud of Tim,” Kyle Luse said. “He finished strong. He can have whatever he wants for lunch now.”

Tim Luse Sr. said, “Probably Smashburger.”

125 High Rock Avenue, | Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 | 518-581-1230

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