Photo by Erin Nelson.
Vestavia Hills Mayor Ashley Curry said he hopes the city’s Phoenix Program can continue to improve and offer options for people in need of help.
People already struggling with an opioid addiction encountered another disadvantage during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Rachel Patterson, regional director for Bradford Health Services.
With mandatory quarantines, businesses shutting down and even support meetings for those struggling with addiction going online instead of being in person, Patterson said the economic stress and loneliness brought on by the pandemic likely led to an increase in the number of opioid problems.
“You just have to pull them (those receiving treatment) in and help them be more accountable,” Patterson said.
She was happy to see people return to in-person groups recently, and it was great for her counselors as well after a weird and difficult 2020, she said.
“It was really hard to do Zoom for groups,” Patterson said. “It was really, really strange. It was so quiet.”
Patterson said she gained a greater admiration for the work her counselors did during the pandemic because they worked hard to take care of their patients and help them deal with their problems during a difficult time.
While in-person groups have returned, Patterson said Bradford will keep part of the telehealth options for some of its patients.
Vestavia Hills Mayor Ashley Curry said he hopes the city’s Phoenix Program also can continue to improve and offer options for people in need of help. The program began in the summer of 2019, and while it has helped a great number of people, there was less participation in 2020, Curry said.
“COVID-19 certainly has hampered our efforts,” he said.
The Phoenix Program is Vestavia’s commitment to not prosecute anyone who walks into either the Vestavia Hills Police Department (at City Hall on U.S. 31) or at any of the fire stations in the city and asks for help with an addiction, even if they bring their drugs to the station or police. Instead, city staff will get the person the help they need, including calling Bradford or another resource agency and getting them to do a free on-site assessment to determine what to do next. It’s a way for the city to try to make a dent in the opioid epidemic that has not left any city untouched, Curry said.
“It would be foolish for us to believe we don’t have that problem in Vestavia,” Curry said. “If you don’t rehab them, you’re going to be arresting them.”
While the isolation brought on by the pandemic lowered the number of people taking advantage of the Phoenix Program, Curry said the city is working to get the word out again about it.
Curry said he also hopes to work with Gov. Kay Ivey to make something like the Phoenix Program available in cities statewide. There’s no cost to the city for calling Bradford or confiscating drugs, and it provides a benefit to the people, so it makes sense for it to be a statewide initiative, Curry said.
Curry said he hopes to join President Joe Biden in his efforts to help end the opioid epidemic. Biden previously talked about federal money potentially being available to cities to help fund programs that assist those with addiction problems. Curry said the Phoenix Program should meet the criteria for the type of programs the president mentioned as being a candidate for federal resources.
People in need of help can contact Bradford by calling 205-547-2727 or visit the Police Department at 1032 Montgomery Highway or any of the cities’ five fire stations, whose addresses can be found on the city’s website at vhal.org/departments/fire-department.
