‘There is hope’: Many gather for Hope Over Stigma event at Kirby Park

WILKES-BARRE — More than 30 community organizations gathered at Kirby Park on Sunday with a shared message for people struggling with substance use disorder and the families who love them: Help is available, and recovery is possible.

Hope Over Stigma, organized by Volunteers of America of Pennsylvania and Michaelene’s Mission, brought treatment providers, behavioral health professionals, recovery organizations, and harm reduction services together for an event designed to remember those lost to overdose and connect those still struggling with resources that could help.

“This is the second year that VOA has been involved,” said Crystal Kotlowski, chief operating officer of Volunteers of America of Pennsylvania. “It was a memorial for people lost to overdose over the years. That was the original purpose of the event before we became involved. But then we tried to open it up to be more of a resource fair, and for prevention, and trying to reach people who are still with us.”

The event included food and activities for children alongside organizations offering services ranging from overdose prevention and behavioral health care to inpatient and outpatient treatment, recovery support, housing assistance, and employment resources.

Kotlowski said the number of organizations represented demonstrates both the extent of the need and the network available to respond to it.

Volunteers of America operates Give Hope, a street outreach program serving Luzerne and Lackawanna counties. Workers visit encampments and other locations to meet people where they are, distribute naloxone, and provide education while connecting people with treatment, housing, and other services when they are ready.

The organization worked with more than 500 people experiencing homelessness through its street outreach and shelter programs last year, Kotlowski said.

Substance abuse can affect people of all kinds, and can often remain hidden to even close friends and family, she said.

“Your neighbor could be struggling with something like this, and you really wouldn’t know,” Kotlowski said.

Building enough trust for someone to disclose substance abuse can take months, she added, particularly when people feel the consequences and stigma of asking for help.

That intersection between substance use and other challenges is something behavioral health providers see regularly.

Kate Favata, manager of community partnerships with Wyoming Valley Behavioral Health, said about 80% of the facility’s patients have co-occurring needs involving both behavioral health and substance use disorder.

Events like Hope Over Stigma allow providers to connect not only with people seeking treatment, but with one another.

“There’s pretty much a resource for everything,” Favata said.

She uses events like Sunday’s to gather information from other agencies and relay it to social workers and recovery specialists, who can then connect patients with appropriate services.

Those services can include mutual aid groups, shelters, treatment centers, outpatient counseling, and medication-assisted treatment.

For people actively struggling with substance use, Favata said, seeing those resources assembled in one place can send an important message.

“I think it represents that they’re not alone, and it works to break down the stigma in the community,” she said. “As a community, we care about you. And we want to do what we can to help you, and we see you. You’re not just a faceless number out there.”

Harm reduction is another part of that effort.

Favata said naloxone, commonly known by the brand name Narcan, is available through numerous organizations in the area, including Luzerne County Drug and Alcohol. Naloxone can reverse an opioid overdose and provide a critical opportunity for someone to survive long enough to pursue recovery.

For some organizations at Sunday’s event, keeping people alive until they are ready for treatment is central to their work.

Pam Keefe founded Michaelene’s Mission after losing her daughter eight years ago. The street-based organization provides harm reduction services, including naloxone training, drug checking, wound care, rescue breathing education, hygiene supplies, and other assistance to people living in encampments and elsewhere in the community.

“There is hope,” Keefe said. “There are preventable ways to prevent drug overdoses.”

Keefe said her own understanding of substance use disorder and medication-assisted treatment changed after her daughter’s death, reinforcing for her the importance of reducing stigma and meeting people where they are.

Other organizations focus on what happens as people move further into recovery.

New Roots Recovery Support Center helps connect people with rehabilitation programs and shelters, and provides employment assistance, transportation, internet access, and recovery support groups.

Gary Saunders, representing New Roots at the event, said many of the people involved with the organization have experienced stigma throughout their lives.

Their presence in the community, he said, demonstrates “that the recovery process works.”

Geisinger Marworth provides another step along the continuum, offering residential inpatient treatment, intensive outpatient care, and outpatient services.

Layna Schrader, a community relations representative with Geisinger Marworth, said case managers also help people address needs that can affect their ability to sustain recovery, including housing and placement in halfway houses.

“We help people at all stages,” Schrader said. “We meet them where they’re at, and we help them move through their recovery.”

For those who could not attend Sunday’s event, providers stressed that the same resources remain available year-round.

Kotlowski said people can contact Volunteers of America, visit its Wilkes-Barre office, or simply walk in and ask for help.

The most important step, providers said, is making that first connection.

“There’s a lot of help out there,” Schrader said. “When they’re ready to make the step, because it’s a difficult thing to get to that point, make the call.”

Local journalism matters, and your support makes it possible. You can help sustain this work by making a donation or choosing one of our subscription options. Subscribers enjoy valuable benefits, including full access to our e-edition, a reduced ad experience on timesleader.com, and more.

Your support helps ensure independent, high-quality local news remains available today and for future generations. Thank you for standing with local journalism.

Click for subscription offers.