Affected Family and Friends Episode 3: PJ Higgins

In the third and final installment in this series, Community Health Partnership's, PJ Higgins, discusses the help and resources available for those struggling with substance use disorder.   

 

 

"The biggest and most complex problems we face are possible to solve!"
- P.J. Higgins, 2023

 

ABOUT PJ HIGGINS

PJ oversees the Coalition for Prevention, Addiction Education, and Recovery (CPAR), a collective impact organization dedicated to improving access to behavioral health treatment.  He is currently leading local efforts to organize around opioid settlement funding.

- Some content excerpted and adapted from online resources.

 

 

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

With Thanks to PJ Higgins
CHP Opioid Prevention Project Manager

• • Harm Reduction Centers
    • Colorado Health Network
      • https://coloradohealthnetwork.org/prevention-health-education/access-point/
    • Love Alive
      • https://www.lovealivecos.org/
    • Recovery Community Organizations
      • Serenity Recovery Connection
        • https://srchope.org/
      • Embark
        • https://www.embarkpca.net/
      • Phoenix Multisport
        • https://thephoenix.org/
      • Treatment types and locators
        • American Society for Addiction Medicine
          • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK64088/
          • https://findtreatment.gov/
        • OWNPATH
          • https://ownpath.co/
        • Aunt Bertha
          • https://www.findhelp.org/
        • Treatment Payment Assistance
          • Raymond Roundtree Jr. Foundation
            • https://sosrrjrfoundation.org/
          • Colorado Medicaid
            • https://hcpf.colorado.gov/how-to-apply
          • Next Chapter
            • https://nextchapterco.org/
          • Veteran Specific Resources
            • Next Chapter
              • https://nextchapterco.org/
            • SAFE Project
              • https://www.safeproject.us/veterans/
            • Vet Centers
              • https://www.va.gov/directory/guide/state.asp?STATE=CO&v=1
            • Family Support Organizations
              • CRAFT Colorado
                • https://bha.colorado.gov/behavioral-health/CRAFT
              • Medication Assisted Treatment
                • Colorado Treatment Locator
                  • https://drive.google.com/file/d/1naco-pLi0honGtdSd62m3XuQuGkdwKDF/view
                • Sober Living
                  • Hazelbrook
                    • https://hazelbrooksoberliving.com/
                  • Embark
                    • https://www.embarkpca.net/
                  • Homeward Pikes Peak
                    • https://homewardpp.org/
                  • Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Resources
                    • Main website: https://corxconsortium.org
                    • Affected Families and Friends: https://corxconsortium.org/work-groups/affected-families-friends/
                    • Affected Families and Friends Resource List: https://corxconsortium.org/wp-content/uploads/Affected-Families-and-Friends-Resource-Guide.pdf (will ask you to open a document. Click “ok.”)
                    • Affected Families and Friends “Beyond the Numbers” videos: https://corxconsortium.org/projects/beyond-the-numbers-echoes-of-the-opioid-epidemic/
                  • Additional Resources
                    • National Institute of health
                      • https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugfacts/naloxone
                    • Shatterproof:
                      • https://www.shatterproof.org
                    • Mayo Clinic
                      • https://mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/drug-addiction/symptoms-causes/syc-20365112
                    • Veteran’s Administration:
                      • https://mentalhealth.va.gov/substance-use/index.asp
                    • Colorado Crisis Services
                      • https://coloradocrisisservices.org

Colorado’s Good Samaritan Law

“The 911 Good Samaritan Law states that a person is immune from criminal prosecution for an offense when the person reports, in good faith, an emergency drug or alcohol overdose even to a law enforcement officer, to the 911 system, or to a medical provider. This same immunity applies to persons who remain at the scene of the event until a law enforcement officer or an emergency medical responder arrives, or if the person remains at the facilities of the medical provider until a law enforcement officer, emergency medical responder, or medical provider arrives. The immunity described above also extends to the person who suffered the emergency drug or alcohol overdose event.”

 

DOWNLOAD THE FULL AFFWG RESOURCE GUIDE

 

ABOUT THE AFFECTED FAMILIES AND FRIENDS PODCAST SERIES

The Affected Families and Friends Podcast is a three-part series on substance use disorder presented by the University of Colorado’s Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention, Affected Families and Friends Work Group and produced in the Veterans Voice studio located on the campus of Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

 

 

MEET CO-PRESENTERS SARAH WERNER AND TRACEY RITTER

Meet your moderators for this series, Sarah Werner (L), and Tracey Ritter (R). They are the co-chairs for the Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention’s work group called, “Affected Families and Friends.” 

The work group provides opportunities for friends and family to share hope, raise awareness and reduce the stigma associated with substance use disorder. Both have lost loved ones to substance use.  For Tracey, her son Evan.  For Sarah, her nephew Jonathan. 

Both have chosen to turn their pain into purpose. Sarah is on the board of the SAFE Project, which is an organization that aims to support action that will prevent fatal drug overdoses. Tracey is a Family Support Specialist with Advocates for Recovery, and has even lobbied with our Attorney General’s office for change in our state.

 

 

The Affected Families and Friends podcast series was produced in the Veterans Voice studio located on the campus of Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center in Colorado Springs, CO, in cooperation with the Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention, Affected Families and Friends Work Group, and the the team of Ms. Sarah Werner, Ms. Tracey Ritter and Ms. Hilary Bryant.