Wellness and recovery fair help those battling addiction
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Angela McGowan browses through dresses that were available for free from Dress for Success Pittsburgh during the Wellness and Recovery Fair on Wednesday while her son, Blaze Fitzgerald, stays close by. The fair was hosted by Harmony Life Center and Silver Pines Treatment Center.
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Karen Bennett, left, president of Harmony Life Center, poses with members of Not In Vain, including Debbie Engel, Rhonda BiBello, and June Chappel, who volunteered at the Wellness and Recovery Fair held Wednesday. The moms in Not In Vain have lost children as the result of drug addiction.
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Narcan, Deterra, and opioid emergency kits were available in limited amounts from Washington County Drug & Alcohol Commission during the Wellness and Recovery Fair held Wednesday.
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
SPHS Centers of Excellence representatives provided information on help for opioid addiction at Wednesday’s Wellness and Recovery Fair, hosted by Harmony Life Center and Silver Pines Treatment Center
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Visitors to the Wellness and Recovery Fair held in Washington on Wednesday stopped by Dress For Success Pittsburgh’s mobile van, where each woman was able to choose an outfit, shoes, and accessories.
Harmony Life Center and Silver Pines Treatment Center joined forces to host a Wellness and Recovery Fair on Wednesday, to provide resources for people battling addiction and their loved ones.
Representatives from about 30 agencies and organizations manned tables and tents along North Main Street, offering a one-stop shop of services including health screenings, free Narcan – a medicine that reverses an opioid overdose – housing and financial management information, free women’s clothing, and more.
“The purpose of the fair is to keep reminding folks there’s help out there,” said M.J. Markley, co-founder and vice president of Harmony Life. “We wanted to bring everybody together in one location so people could see what we have available in Washington and in Washington County. People are still dying from drugs and alcohol, and unfortunately, that was overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
In 2021, 106 people died from drug overdose in Washington County, the second-highest number of overdoses recorded in the county, according to the Washington County Coroner’s annual report.
“Drug addiction is still very much prevalent in this county. Hopefully, this event will remind people that drugs are still here, but there is help,” said Markley.
Dress for Success Pittsburgh set up shop in a parking lot, and dozens of women visited the van, which was filled with women’s clothing and accessories.
Each woman was able to pick out an outfit, a pair of shoes, accessories, and toiletries.
Among them was Angela McGowan, who rifled through suits and dresses before settling on a polka dot dress.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity,” said McGowan, who has experienced homelessness and other issues and currently is a resident of City Mission’s Avis Arbor Women’s Shelter, where she lives with her 2-year-old son, Blaze Fitzgerald. “Getting some clothes is so helpful, especially with the situation (Blaze) and I are in. You feel cared about.”
Sitting behind a table, representatives from SPHS Centers of Excellence, which provides opioid-related substance abuse care through seven centers, including in Washington, Waynesburg, Monessen and Uniontown, handed out pamphlets and offered information to visitors who stopped by.
“Our job is to connect with individuals who are struggling and to link them to all of the services – rehabilitation, employment, housing – that we can, and to make sure they stay connected,” said Thelma Turner, a care navigator for SPHS.
Washington County Drug & Alcohol Commission distributed Narcan, also called naloxone, along with packets of Deterra, a drug deactivation pouch that simply requires a person to place unused prescription or other drugs in, and then add water and dispose.
The Drug & Alcohol Commission also provides overdose kits, available upon request, for organizations and businesses.
“Municipalities and public places, or anywhere that there’s a chance for overdose, like gas stations and hotels, can have (the kits),” said Breanne Pugh, project coordinator for the Drug and Alcohol Commission.
She said fentanyl, a synthetic opioid drug that is being mixed with other drugs such as cocaine, is fueling the number of drug overdoses.
“A lot of overdoses are happening for people who typically don’t think they’re going to OD. Nothing is safe. If you’re using and you’re buying off the street, you don’t know what you’re getting,” Pugh said. “We’re trying to let people out there in the community know that Narcan is available.”
To order a Narcan kit, which will be delivered to your home, visit www.wdacinc.org/narcan-request. Washington County residents can receive one kit.
Karen Bennett, president of Harmony Life Center, said it’s important for those battling addiction to know what resources are available and how to access them.
“There’s a continuing drug problem that is going on around here, and we believe that people can’t get well if they’ve got all these other issues going on in their lives,” said Bennett. “After they go through rehab, there are all these other resources that are important, too – banking, budgeting, housing, and other agencies that can help them.”
Among the wellness fair volunteers were members of “Not In Vain,” a support group for mothers who have lost children to drug overdose.
The women, clad in orange Harmony Life Center T-shirts, manned a table that featured raffle items and information about Harmony Life Center.
Also on the table was a pink donation bucket decorated by 13-year-old Preston Robison with photos of his mother, Melissa Moeller, who lost her life in 2017 after a battle with drug addiction.
Moeller’s mother, Rhonda DiBello, is one of the founders and members of “Not In Vain.”
She happily noted that a person walking past the table stopped to drop in a $20 bill.
Another founding member of “Not In Vain” is June Chappel, who lost both of her sons to drug overdoses.
Before the recent sentencing for the drug dealer who supplied her son, David Chappel, with fentanyl-laced heroin in 2019, Chappel read her victim’s impact statement to her “Not In Vain” moms to get their feedback and suggestions.
The “Not In Vain” mothers don’t want anyone else to go through what they’ve experienced.
“No one understands until you’ve gone through it,” said Chappel. “We all tried to save our kids.”