Woman’s Voice: The Lenawee Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition is a diverse group of dedicated community members united around the goal of reducing substance use in Lenawee County. LSAPC members work collaboratively to engage and educate the community in order to promote a healthy Lenawee.
Kathy Williams: This is Kathy Williams. And with me on tonight’s program is Elizabeth Kelly, and Elizabeth is a Certified Peer Recovery Coach with Parkside Family Counseling. Elizabeth, we appreciate you taking time out to talk with us about your story and Parkside tonight.
Elizabeth Kelly: You’re very welcome. Thank you for having me here.
Kathy Williams: So we want to, you know, we’ve had some other peer support people on the program before that are involved with Inter-Connections and things like that. Of course, Parkside offers a little bit different spin on peer support, and having a history with a substance problem, you are able to bring a different perspective, I would say to that kind of counseling.
Elizabeth Kelly: Absolutely. I am an addict in long term recovery and when introducing myself to new individuals, I say, you know, I am a Certified Peer Recovery Coach and the most important word in that title being peer.
Kathy Williams: Right.
Elizabeth Kelly: I am just like anyone else. So, that is definitely… I’m able to bring the “I’ve been there, done that” to the situation. So, you know, there’s no judgment involved and just a little bit more of the insight because I’ve been there on a personal level.
Kathy Williams: Yeah. You know, in lots of different things that happen in our lives, that the person who has been there is usually the most helpful because they can relate to your exact circumstances. Would you like to tell us a little bit about your history then? How things kind of went south on you?
Elizabeth Kelly: How things went south – well… No, I actually was predisposed to become an addict. Both of my biological parents were addicts themselves.
Kathy Williams: Okay.
Elizabeth Kelly: But I did have a wonderful childhood. I grew up here in Lenawee County. I’m a graduate of Onsted High School. You know, I was involved in sports, did well in school. And then once I got to college, you know, and the… a little bit of the experimentation stage started and it is a very slippery slope from there, especially when you have parents that are battling the same issues. It makes you just that much more likely to become an addict yourself. So it was very quick for me to go from, you know, alcohol to marijuana, to prescription pills. And it’s just a very slippery slope.
Kathy Williams: It is. And how did you, how did you pull yourself out of it? What kind of help did you get at the time?
Elizabeth Kelly: I went to a residential treatment facility myself, but without family and friends to support, I would not be here today. Support is absolutely one of the most important parts of recovery. I highly encourage individuals to reach out to support systems by going to meetings or, you know, going to sober events, whatever that they can do. But the more supports the better – you can’t have too many.
Kathy Williams: Exactly. Well, and I think that that’s sometimes the hard spot for people is admitting to themselves, maybe that they need some help, that they’re not gonna be able do this on their own. And it’s not a defeat to say that.
Elizabeth Kelly: No, not at all. Addiction does not discriminate. Unfortunately, there is that stigma that comes along with it, and that is what we are trying so hard to help end that stigma. You know, there should not be shame associated with that. It doesn’t matter, you know, your age, gender, religious backgrounds… I mean…
Kathy Williams: Economic status, none of it.
Elizabeth Kelly: None of it. Yes. It does not matter. Like I said, I had a great childhood and I had loving parents that took care of me, you know, all these opportunities, but that doesn’t mean that I was completely safe from addiction. Yeah.
Kathy Williams: Right, right. It didn’t blind you to a genetic issue even.
Elizabeth Kelly: Absolutely.
Kathy Williams: And sometimes that’s what it comes down to is a predisposition. People struggle with mental health issues in lots of different ways. And so now that you’re at Parkside, what kind of support groups do you offer there? How does that process work? How do people get involved in it?
Elizabeth Kelly: Well, there is many ways to become involved over at Parkside. We work with the drug court. We work with CMH. We do self-referrals. You know, the first level I would say is our engagement groups. And I facilitate those every week. We do them Monday evenings, Wednesday evenings, and Friday mornings.
Kathy Williams: Okay.
Elizabeth Kelly: So, we do those weekly and that’s the easiest way to, you know, kind of ease way into it if you’re not quite sure where you’re at. But Parkside absolutely offers a variety of services for both adults and most importantly teens because not very many agencies around offer it for…
Kathy Williams: The younger generation.
Elizabeth Kelly: For the younger generation. And let’s be fair, that’s a very important generation.
Kathy Williams: It is, especially with the extra stress that they’ve been under the last couple years. I mean being a teen is always stressful, I think.
Elizabeth Kelly: Right.
Kathy Williams: But the isolation and all these other extra things that have come into play have really exasperated people’s mental health on many, many levels. Is Parkside something that… do they offer insurance coverage? Do, is it a sliding scale?
Elizabeth Kelly: Yes.
Kathy Williams: How does a person, you know, find out what their benefits would be of going there?
Elizabeth Kelly: That is a great question. And my best answer for that is I know that we, while we accept many insurances, there’s also the self-paced sliding scale that is available for those who do not have insurance.
Kathy Williams; Okay.
Elizabeth Kelly: But your best option absolutely would be to contact Parkside directly.
Kathy Williams: There you go.
Elizabeth Kelly: Calling the office or we have a website that you can go to that is ParksideForFamilies.com.
Kathy Williams: Okay. And the phone number?
Elizabeth Kelly: And the phone number is (517) 266-8880.
Kathy Williams: So, basically you could call or check out the website and just see where they fall in, what kind of services might be available for them, and explore.
Elizabeth Kelly: Absolutely.
Kathy Williams: There’s always no commitment.
Elizabeth Kelly: No, absolutely no, no commitment. And just checking it out, the website has an incredible amount of information on it, ranging from all of our services, including, you know, family services, mental health services, the youth services, and the substance use disorder services.
Kathy Williams: Elizabeth, we appreciate you sharing your story tonight with us and helping us become more aware of what Parkside offers. What’s the address of Parkside?
Elizabeth Kelly: Parkside Family Counseling is located at 805 West Maumee, which is right across the street from Hungry Howie’s.
Kathy Williams: Oh, there you go. So easy to find. And again, the phone number and website?
Elizabeth Kelly: The phone number is (517) 266-8880. And the website is ParksideForFamilies.com. And we are also on Facebook.
Kathy Williams: There you go. Thanks so much again, Elizabeth. We appreciate you and all you’ve been through and the help you’re giving our community.
Elizabeth Kelly: Thank you so much.
Woman’s Voice: Thank you for listening. This information has been provided by the Lenawee Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition. Supported by funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration. New messages air on the first and third Monday of each month at 6:15 p.m. You can listen to this program as a podcast under the audio tab on WLEN.com and listen and gather more information at DrugPreventionLenawee.com.
