Woman’s Voice: This special program is brought to you by the Lenawee Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition. Guests provide information about upcoming events, resources available, and the many ways to help reduce substance use and promote a healthy Lenawee.
Kathy Williams: This is Kathy Williams and with me tonight is Kellie Niese and we’re going to be talking to you about the Lenawee Recovery Network. Kellie, first off, thanks for joining me and helping our listeners learn a little bit more about the Lenawee Recovery Network.
Kellie Niese: Well, thank you. I always like stopping by and seeing you.
Kathy Williams: It’s nice to see you too. So the Lenawee Recovery Network hasn’t been around for very long now?
Kellie Niese: No. So, the Lenawee Recovery Network is a website that we developed through a community grant that we have and we launched it last year on August 31st, National Overdose Awareness Day at the day of HOPE.
Kathy Williams: Oh yeah. In the… where that event is coming up again this year!
Kellie Niese: It is!
Kathy William: It’s kind of going to be a permanent thing. The last, what is it? The last day of October?
Kellie Niese: The last day of August.
Kathy Williams: Of August! Oh, I got us way late. Okay. Last day in August. So we’ll be talking more about that later this summer.
Kellie Niese: Yes.
Kathy Williams: Kellie, you’re, you’re tweaking it and making sure that things are up to date. Let our listeners know what kind of things can they find when they go to that site?
Kellie Niese: Right. Well, so what I’ve found is when I’m out in the community trying to get substance use disorder or addiction resources into the hands of people, that I have a lot of papers and people don’t necessarily know what to do with all those papers. And so we wanted to create something electronic.
Kathy Williams: Okay.
Kellie Niese: That was really specific to Lenawee County. So the Lenawee Recovery Network kind of spawned out of that. And it has exactly that: local resources to help with housing, transportation, addiction, sober activities, and treatment options here in Lenawee County.
Kathy Williams: Well, and you were talking with me off air about, so you can go to the site and you can say, I need food.
Kellie Niese: Right. Right.
Kathy Williams: And it, and there’s a dropdown menu then for food, or?
Kellie Niese: It is. We, we really took inspiration from people that are in recovery from substance use disorder and asked what they were looking for in that moment of crisis.
Kathy Williams: Okay.
Kellie Niese: Because it does, you know, you’re not in crisis on an island by yourself.
Kathy Williams: No.
Kellie Niese: And there isn’t just one problem usually when you’re, when you’re in substance use disorder or addiction. And so a lot of times people who are in crisis, they don’t have housing, they can’t afford transportation or lost their transportation. And so yes, that we, we incorporated all of that into the website. So if you’re looking for a food pantry, food pantries are there. Lenawee Transportation Authority is on there, and how to utilize that harm reduction information if you’re not familiar with that. Like how can someone get Narcan to reverse an opiate overdose? Syringe exchange, which isn’t available here in Lenawee County, but we give you instructions on how you can reach those services nearby.
Kathy Williams: Okay. Okay.
Kellie Niese: And so things to just make sure that someone that loves someone struggling with addiction or struggling with addiction themselves can easily in one space, find all of these resources.
Kathy Williams: Well, that’s the hard thing because when you’re in the moment, your, your mind is scattered anyway.
Kellie Niese: Right.
Kathy Williams: So, it, it makes a lot of sense to me that it is available for those helping others through crisis.
Kellie Niese: Right. Right. And so, you know, I, I’m a nurse by trade.
Kathy Williams: Right.
Kellie Niese: And so I always think when I had patients coming to me, I would love to have one thing that I could hand them that would, you know, comprehensively give them everything they needed in, you know…
Kathy Williams: One quick shot.
Kellie Niese: Yeah. And so that’s really what I had in mind for that.
Kathy Williams: Okay.
Kellie Niese: And so over this next month, you’ll probably see some of these posters spring up that highlight Lenawee Recovery Network and it will have a flow code on it, and it will tell a little bit about the site and people, you know, maybe doing their laundry at a laundromat in a moment of, of clarity might want to scan that and get connected to resources. Doctor’s offices will have those resources. Therapists will have those resources.
Kathy Williams: Okay.
Kellie Niese: Yeah, we’re really trying to disperse it in into the community, so it’s easily available. And if anyone’s like me, I’m last minute for anything. So in the moment, I might search “Lenawee Recovery Network”.
Kathy Williams: Right.
Kellie Niese: And get the resource that way, or recovery services. So we really are trying to reach people where they’re at.
Kathy Williams: And there is information then also on the site as far as if a person wants a face-to-face connection?
Kellie Niese: Right.
Kathy Williams: Those are on there as well?
Kellie Niese: Yeah. One of the really cool things about the site is it has… So Pathways Engagement Center is a part of Lenawee Community Mental Health and it’s right downtown. And it has peers in recovery from addiction there and so on LRN, there’s a whole page and profile of all the peers that work at Pathways, and it tells a little bit about their journey to recovery.
Kathy Williams: Okay.
Kellie Niese: And how you can connect immediately to them.
Kathy Williams: Oh, that’s wonderful because you do get the best support really, from someone who’s already walked down that road.
Kellie Niese: Right.
Kathy Williams: They, I mean, they know how hard it is for you. They really can connect with you better.
Kellie Niese: Yeah. And it, and it really is for anyone affected or impacted by addiction. So, for instance, there’s a page on there to remember someone that you may have lost to addiction.
Kathy Williams: Okay.
Kellie Niese: You’ll see me on there. My sister, I highlighted a memorial for her. And you know, there’s some YouTube programming on there. There’s WLEN interviews on there that kind of highlight some of the things we’ve discussed over the year. And then there is direct ways to get help through CMH if someone needs help immediately.
Kathy Williams: There you go. Well, it’s all about helping everyone that we can and we know that the road recovery is a tough one.
Kellie Niese: It is.
Kathy Williams: So, the more we can help with that.
Kellie Niese: That’s right.
Kathy Williams: Thanks so much, Kellie. Appreciate all the information.
Kellie Niese: I always appreciate you having me.
Woman’s Voice: The Lenawee Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition supported by funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration. Thank you for listening. New messages air on the second and fourth Monday each month at 6:15 PM. You can listen to this program as a podcast under the “on air audio” tab on WLEN.com and get more information at DrugPreventionLenawee.com.
