EASTON, Md. - The road to substance abuse recovery in Easton may soon start here.
The Grace Street center is designed to provide resources for getting a job, housing, or clinical treatment. And before Grace Street can help other's lives, they first have to put the paint on the walls.
The center is a type of RCO or Recovery Community Organization. An RCO is an independent, non-profit organizations led and governed by representatives of local communities of recovery. It's funded through the Opioid Operational Command Center's (OOCC) Competitive Grant Program, which supports initiatives that address the opioid crisis.
Directors with the center say it is here to help clients get back on their feet, and create a safe place.
Program Director Kate Dulin says, "A lot of people who have questions or seeking help don't always feel comfortable or to go to a place that's clinical like the hospital or the health department. We just want to be one more space for people can connect to those resources."
While Grace Street is still setting up one of the rooms will be used for peer support groups where an individual can connect with a volunteer, who has already had substance abuse experiences. Both of them can pull up a chair and that individual can get the support they need on a more personal level.
Those in community say substance abuse in Easton is a huge problem. So they'd like to see this center open as soon as possible.
"You might go in one neighborhood and you see people on the corner doing drugs. When other people see it they think that stuff is cool and they're just messing their whole life up," says community member Cortez Mills.
One Neighbor says she'd offer to be a volunteer.
"I know you have a problem but that's why we'd like to have the center here so when you need us we'll be right here for you," says Agnes Thompson-Allen.
Dulin added, "We just know that there is extra support needed in addition to everything that is already here. There's a lot of recovery housing and that's good because it offers housing for people who are just getting back on their feet. We just want to be one more place for them to come to be able to make their recovery successful."
And along with the center, it will include a Narcan (overdose reversing drug) vending machine so the community can be more prepared if in the event of an overdose.
Dulin says they're unsure of exactly when, but he center will open sometime in August.
More efforts to fight the war on drugs.