{"id":2644,"date":"2020-04-16T15:44:47","date_gmt":"2020-04-16T15:44:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?page_id=2644"},"modified":"2020-04-16T15:44:47","modified_gmt":"2020-04-16T15:44:47","slug":"coronavirus-drops-new-obstacles-on-precarious-path-to-sobriety","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/coronavirus-drops-new-obstacles-on-precarious-path-to-sobriety\/","title":{"rendered":"Coronavirus drops new obstacles on precarious path to sobriety"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Victoria Eavis<\/span><\/p>\n Responses to the coronavirus outbreak are disrupting all sides of substance abuse treatment in Durham.<\/p>\n Triangle Resi<\/span>dential Options for Substance Abusers<\/span>, Durham\u2019s best known addiction treatment program, has stopped accepting new residents for the first time since it opened in 1994.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Restrictions imposed by government emergency orders forced the non-profit, recently home to 456 people, to shut down two \u201csocial enterprises\u201d that help pay for its long-term residential treatment. TROSA\u2019s moving outfit and thrift store are shuttered, businesses that account for $9.5 million, half of its annual revenue, according to its website.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Other substance abuse treatment outfits have<\/span> also temporarily reduced or ended operations, limiting their<\/span> ability to help people free themselves from drug and alcohol dependence. Others have found ways to adapt.<\/span> \u201cI just talked to a client this morning and she started back using. She said she couldn’t get to no NA meetings because she didn’t know how to do Zoom,\u201d said Michelle McKinney, a peer-support specialist and outreach coordinator at RCOD.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n McKinney told the client to go to Durham Recovery Response Center, a short term care center for mental health and substance abuse crises, to seek detox treatment. But RCOD clients who already struggled with transportation, have even less mobility now because RCOD can no longer provide rides.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Durham Rescue Mission, a Christian shelter, suspended its Victory Program following Gov. Roy Cooper\u2019s March 23 <\/span>executive order<\/span><\/a> that banned gatherings of more than 50 people, said chief operating officer Rob Tart. The 12-month recovery program usually enrolls 65 to 70 people.<\/span> As of Monday, Durham Rescue shelters housed 332 men and 88 women and children and continued to accept new residents, according to Tart. The women\u2019s division is housed in the mission\u2019s Good Samaritan Inn, where staff have sectioned off singles for residents who show signs of coronavirus infection.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
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\n<\/span>Recovery Community of Durham, located in the Hayti Heritage Center, serves many people who are homeless. Normally, it does intensive outreach, offering clients access to technology, counselors, rides to counseling appointments, and referrals for mental health, substance abuse, housing, and employment. <\/span>
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\n<\/span>But RCOD has been forced <\/span><\/a>to end most operations, other than walk-in hours.<\/span> \u201cI would estimate foot traffic has decreased by 80% which has been devastating for us,\u201d said Robert Thomas, chairperson of RCOD’s board of directors. <\/span>
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\n<\/span>What\u2019s more, <\/span>clients are telling staff that they can\u2019t reach programming that helped them in the past, including getting to Narcotics Anonymous meetings, which have all gone online.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
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\n<\/span>Durham Rescue shut down its thrift store too, which typically generates for approximately 50% of the annual budget, Tart said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n