Three women, looking at the world and community from three unique vantage points, have joined forces to create positive synergy in the ongoing fight against addiction.
“This is our community, this is our home. All communities have problems created by addiction. Addiction doesn’t discriminate. It doesn’t care if you are black, or white, a man, a woman. It doesn’t care what your socioeconomic status is. It affects everyone, and communities that accept that, and tackle it head on thrive far more than the ones that ignore it,” said Libby Short, the YMCA’s Community Outreach Director. Libby is transparent about that fact that she is also the mother of an addict.
Through her job at the YMCA, Short met Christy Wall, the Community Outreach manager of BrightView Addiction Treatment Center, and AK Murrey, a recovering addict who has successfully regained a normal life. Wall, like Short, is open and honest about what lead her to her work. Wall spent her childhood watching her mother struggle with addiction to methamphetamine and Prescription pain pills.
When the dynamic threesome met, they immediately discovered a synergy rooted in the desire to help people recover.
“There are needs in the community not being met, and barriersbetween people in need of help. We wanted to go through and tackle those obstacles one at a time,” Wall said.
One of the first undertakings was raising awareness, and they did so through a Recovery Rally. The rally was revealing when it came to interest and need. Since that time, much of the growth has been organic.
“We got the word out that we were involved in this, and now people know who to reach out to,” said Murrey.
“There is a great need for more resources, and we want to start proving those one at a time, to bring those resources to the community,” Wall said.
With each of the three women having unique perspectives, they work well together and bring different things to the table. Murrey brings willingness to share the story of addiction through an addict’s experiences.
“Word of mouth is powerful. I am so outspoken about my recovery. I can’t tell you how many people I have helped just by telling my story,” Murrey said. When she tells her story, she talks about the roots of the problem, which was an abusive relationship with an addict. She asks about the ravaging effectsof substance abuse. She was arrested there times, and at 39 Yrs old has had eight strokes and congestive heart failure. From an emotional standpoint, she says it’s been challenging. She describes the journey as “ugly and beautiful at the same time.”
“When you are in addiction you are numb, you keep yourself numb. Recovery was an emotional rollercoaster, because you feel again,” Murrey said.
Murrey now has a salon of her own and has revitalized her cosmetology business.
I have relied on a higher power. I have relied on support groups, and family and friends. It is a key part of my recovery,” she said.
Wall’s perspective is that of a daughter.
“I learned of my mom’s addiction at the age of 10. Being in that world as a child, I saw the struggles my mother battled with methamphetamine and started with Prescription pain pill addiction. It was challenging because I would say as a young person, it was scary. I feared for her and found her many times, not knowing if she had overdosed or not,” Wall said.
She added that having a younger sister to protect in home.
“It took me years to not feel shame and to feel comfortable talking about it. It undoubtedly made me who I am today, and inspired me to choose this role,” she said.
She obtained a degree in criminal justice and worked in corrections.
“I was very black and white, I had to learn to soften my heartand further my education on addiction. No one wakes up and chooses to struggle with addiction.” she said.
Wall’s mother is now 66 years old, and is fully recovered. She went to rehab many times, and Wall says it was 180 day long incarceration that eventually prompted the change. She also says the support of family and community was key.
“Judge Executive Davie Greer helped my mother so much. She went to the jail. She visited her. She formed a bond an helped her get on her feet. Davie Greer was wonderful in understanding that personal problems are a community’s problem,” Wall said.
Short brings a mother’s perspective, and says her views have changed and she has grown with her son through this process.
“My son is 30 and we started battling addiction when he was 15. We talk a lot about breaking down the stigmas. I have educated myself the past few years, I have really dug into the recovery world,” Short said.
From the age of 18, her son has been back and forth from jail, to rehab, to home. For many years Short struggled to understand why he would not simply stop, but has learned that is not the way an addict’s brain works. She also has learned that addiction affects an entire family.
“You suffer though strained family dynamics. It is a lot. But through learning to help him, I have helped myself,” she said.
Shorts son is currently incarcerated.
“My thing is, I want a good strong recovery community for him return home to next year,” Short said.
Together, the three are working every day to help Barren County be deemed a Recovery Ready Community.
They are seeing to it that extra resources are made available through the YMCA, BrightView, and in public and easily attainable ways.
They are trying to add a broad range of resources, because as Murrey says, “not everyone’s journey is the same, no two recoveries are alike.” Each individual facing addiction does so with environmental factors, genetic factors and lifestyle factors at play.
“Addiction is a chronic, progressive, potentially fatal disease.With the right treatment and support many people who have addiction achieve long-term recovery,” Wall said.
“I had trauma that kept me going, but I had a genetic factor, too.” Murrey said.
“I was exposed to a lot growing up and had my own experiences like most youth. I am blessed I was able to go down a different path” Wall said.
The three say many social factors need to be addressed for any community to become Recovery Ready.
The overprescribing of opioids by doctors creates many problems that lead to legal addictions. Those legal addictions, including pills and alcohol, are now recognized as gateway drugs. Shame and ignorance clouds the awareness of community members and sometimes leaders, as to what communities really need in the way of recovery resources. Zoning restrictions inhibit the ability for much needed facilities to take root, and the court stems frequently release people long before they have had a chance to get sober, or even face consequences.
“Jail is not the place for an addict. Rehab is. However, many recovery journeys begin in jail because a prolonged period of time in jail requires sobriety. An addict has to be able to sit down away from their problems long enough to see a change is needed,” Short said.
“My recovery journey started with incarceration,” Murrey added.
Wall says that in her work she often sees factors like burnt bridges with family, toxic friendships that support addiction, people returning to the same environments that fostered addiction.
“Our communities tend to be very harsh judges of people who struggle with addiction. But, people with Substance Use Disorder need and deserve the same level of comprehensive, proven medical treatment and compassion as anyone with a chronic disease.” Wall said.
The goal for Short, Wall and Murray is to break those barriers down.
“We don’t care where you are in your journey, if you’re ready we will meet you where you are,” Short said. “There should be resources for every single person.”
Short has seen first-hand the way resources are not in place.
“The first time my son was picked up by police, he was a juvenile. At 15, they gave him a coloring pack,” she said.
More NARCAN and more readily available information about where NARCAN is, is important too.
“As long as you have life, you can turn your life around. Because of fentanyl, there is a high overdose rate. It is potentially in every drug now, sometimes even marijuana,” Murrey said.
Another facet is once a person is recovered the stigma and reputation can still follow them for many years.
“It is difficult to get a job, especially if you’ve had a felony,” Murrey said.
“There is a lot of talk about people not wanting to work. There is a whole demographic that would make a good work force in recovery,” Short said.
All three agree they like the forward-thinking ways of Alex Elswick, a Professor at UK and the founder of a Lexington non-profit, Voices of Hope. Elswick has devoted himself to understanding recovering and building strong community support avenues.
“We are working very hard to establish a Recovery Community Center here in Glasgow, where a person can walk in, at whatever stage of addiction or recovery they are in,” Short said.
They are also working on providing more for family and friends of addicts, as it affects everyone.
All three also see a hopeful future and are willing to work around resistance and ignorance to accomplish goals.
“Once you get a dose of recovery, you want more. The old way is no longer enjoyable,” Murrey said.
There is a much work to be done, and the road ahead is long but they are taking steps, day by day. They have some words to live by, and keep this in mind every day as they strive to build a Recovery Ready Community:
One day, a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy, picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean. Approaching the boy, he asked, “what are you doing?“
The boy replied, “throwing starfish back into the ocean, the surface up and the tide is out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”
“Son, “the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make a difference!”
After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said, I made a difference for that one.”
Loren Eisley
