it was kind of a perfect storm. Unfortunately, what happens when a pandemic hits in the middle of an already deadly epidemic. Unfortunately, there was a huge increase in relapsing overdose deaths in the last 18 months. We have been surrounded by a lot of tragedy, more isolation for those struggling with opioid addiction. It's a very dangerous place for somebody in early recovery to be and a spike in drug overdose deaths definitely things that we hadn't seen for my entire time. You know, and I know in the history of this office tonight, a look at how the covid pandemic sent the opioid epidemic into overdrive here in this area, spending a lot of people that have passed overdose and you know, in making and turned the recovery community upside down. We did have a lot of people drop out of treatment. It was more difficult to really maintain that kind of support and connection that folks needed, but that community respond, friends, family counselors at times I could have broken, I didn't want to go back to active addiction in the face of unprecedented uncertainty and challenge. I think our overdose numbers would have been a lot higher had it not been for the effort that was made, how they got through it, how it's amazing to me. I don't know that there is many things in life that are more beautiful than that with all this perseverance and strength and courage and to know that there's hope, recovery is possible. Good evening. I'm jerry dish. The covid pandemic is unlike anything we've ever personally experienced before. The threat of a highly contagious deadly disease quickly spreading throughout our society led to an unprecedented response. Schools and businesses closed. People told to stay in their homes and avoids social contact. By now we know the impact it's all had from our economy to our mental health. And among the many things, the pandemic impact was something that had already caused so much death. Both locally and nationally. The opioid epidemic have been leading to drug overdoses for years as medical professionals and others struggled to find a way to stem the tide. The pandemic and the measures taken to try to stop the spread of COVID-19 brought a whole new challenge for those on the front lines of the drug crisis and record breaking numbers of overdoses. Tonight we talk to those impacted by opioid addiction, from those in recovery, to the people helping them. On that journey battling drug addiction is already a long and difficult road one that only becomes more difficult when a worldwide crisis hits. I am officially declaring a national emergency. 41 coronavirus cases in pennsylvania the next few weeks are going to be challenging last spring. Covid night growing covid pandemic More cases cases dominated the headlines. Coronavirus coronavirus covid 19, those in the middle of battling an epidemic. Everything proceed with caution was about to change. You know, this illness does not need any help being devastating scott tire was immediately concerned about the people he helps with the Lancaster County recovery alliance People were isolated and didn't know what to do. He knew those struggling with addiction and in early stages of recovery, we're going to be impacted by a suddenly changed world. People became very anxious, very afraid, very isolated. We lost all of our social connections, things that we depend on, things that we need to stay healthy in early recovery and they overnight just kind of disappeared. It's a very dangerous place for somebody in early recovery to be. If you take all those supports away suddenly you are on your own on an island which is which is the worst place to be. It's where the disease wants you to be like the rest of us. People in addiction and recovery were concerned about this new contagious health threat and many times that quickly led to problems. It's been a very difficult time. Melinda raise Ayala is a recovery specialist with the rays project in Lancaster. She's also in long term recovery herself clean for five years. The pandemic through her and though she helps for a loop working as a recovery specialist, we're trying to help individuals through a process that we were struggling through ourselves. When the pandemic hit we became isolated, we weren't allowed to leave our houses, we weren't allowed to go to meetings. So you know a lot of how we found peace in support through our recovery was taken away from us the impact the pandemic had on the opioid epidemic was almost immediate. Drug overdoses nationwide spiked in April May of last year and 2020 set a record for the most overdose deaths in a single year nationwide. Up 29%. It was the same deadly result. Closer to home. Overdose deaths increased 16% last year in Pennsylvania from the year before it did exacerbated. A lot of us believe the numbers jumped here in the Susquehanna Valley as well. Pam Gay is the york county coroner. Overdoses went up last year in your county and hit an all time high this past March. That's our worst month we've ever had in the history of this office definitely things that we hadn't seen for my entire time. It was even more frustrating because in some areas overdoses had shown a modest decline in the year or two before the pandemic hit. It was kind of a perfect storm. Unfortunately, those on the front lines knew they had to respond immediately. Chris glover is with a Lancaster County group joining forces for Children that helps kids impacted by addiction. We were concerned because kiddos, we're home and you know, there wasn't kind of that safe person at school that might identify that there was something wrong and make that connection when kids have the opportunity to go to daycare or go to school. Um, you know, somebody is trained to keep an eye out for those kinds of things and then, and then we can get folks connected. So when that wasn't happening, when there was less of those safe carrying concerned eyes on young folks, um you know, nobody really knows exactly what was happening, but what we are seeing and understanding from our partners that Children and youth is that they are seeing more severe cases of abuse and neglect um, throughout the pandemic, all that added stress, job loss, physical health, mental health as a result of that added stress and kind of turning to those unhealthy coping strategies. The pandemic upended many of the strategies and methods used to help people break the cycle of addiction connections that are so important were suddenly cut off, keeping people engaged in treatment and retained in treatment and that was a very big challenge. The pandemic really uh played a part in people dropping out of treatment. They isolated, It was not as engaging for them to come into the appointment And there simply dropped out. Unfortunately, there was a huge increase in relapsing overdose deaths. Um, the last 18 months, we have been surrounded by a lot of tragedy. There were many factors that lead to increase relapses and overdoses, financial insecurity, stress and uncertainty among them. Even government stimulus money meant to help people caused a problem. As people spent that money on drugs they had access to more money, you know, in some of these situations. Um, depression was on the rise. It was just like this huge culmination of things that led to a huge disaster and for many it hit close to home. How difficult was it, seeing people struggle and even losing people during the finish. I'm sorry, I need a minute. Melinda lost one of her best friends Last year at 12:30 PM. I got the call that she had relapsed and it killed her. She had been doing well. Um it was kind of a shock. I mean there's always that possibility when people actively used but um we thought that she was doing okay. I feel like it was a mixture of depression, the pandemic isolation trauma. Um you know, you would think because we are surrounded by death because of overdose all the time that it would get easier, but it doesn't because these are human lives and it's hard to wrap your mind around how someone that you loved and someone who had plans for the next day and thoughts and opinions just isn't here anymore. I lost several friends. It was a reminder to me of how, yeah, how devastating this illnesses because they were friends of mine that I never would have thought would would succumb to this illness. It does not take long for this illness to take lives. It can happen, You know, in 60 seconds when this all happened, their worlds were turned upside down and um many are still struggling to find their way back to sobriety from that. Um something nick, some did not make it, it wasn't until the pandemic that I had experienced the loss of my participants. I've had several participants who passed away. It was like wave after wave. You know, I have participants who were passing away from overdoses. I had family members and friends who were passing away because of Covid. Then I lose my own friends so professionally and personally, um it's the hardest year that I've ever experienced in my life coming up, I didn't want to go back to active addiction. I didn't want that insanity going through recovery during a pandemic. It brought that isolation, that separation. We talked to people who went through it firsthand first he was scared because for me it was scared because you know, I know I needed them people and I couldn't get joined when our chronicle special continues. Welcome back to our Chronicle special road to recovery. As the covid pandemic raged. Upending life in America. People in early recovery from drug abuse struggled to find a way to stay clean and keep all that hard earned progress. They had made so far with isolation, a major concern. They tried to find new ways to keep the connections that are so important to their surprise. You make me happy Ashok easing doesn't take a moment with her daughter for granted. You never, she's worked too hard and overcome too much to get to this point. I love you. My daughter is just so precious. She is. She is she's got these big old ears, but she's amazing, the most beautiful gift and that's what I have now. It truly has been a long road rash struggle with substances started when she was young. My addiction started when I was a child. Um At the age of seven, I started smoking cigarettes. That led to marijuana at 13 and alcohol at 16. I was very lost in that very lost in that. It just progressed and got worse and got worse and that vicious cycle just kept going. Eventually. As a young adult, she was shooting heroin and in the throes of opioid addiction. It was hell on earth. It was death. It was that injection was just you're killing yourself, slowly killing yourself over the years. She's been in and out of rehab several times and experience homelessness and incarceration. But as she started another try getting clean this time with a longer treatment program. The covid pandemic Governor wolf orders all non essential stores to close. Starting at midnight tonight to slow the spread of the coronavirus. She was in a recovery house at the time. It impacted my entire life in every area of my life during the pandemic. There were very, you know, sad moments, angry moments, Why is this happening? How is this happening? Why is it continuing to happen? Obsessive thoughts. Um, compulsive actions like you just do things without thinking and it makes you, it makes you do things you really don't want to do. But she didn't want anything. Even the pandemic to throw her off course. And this time she had yet another reason to stay on the right path. I lost my friend last year during the pandemic and that changed my life because I wanted to live for her. Have a life for her do the things that she would have done. I don't want to go back after all that time I had over a year clean. I didn't want to go back to something that could kill me waste to Leonard. Grady understands what a shaky was going through his road to recovery has been long as well right now we live in okay, living a good life. Leonard First got into drugs with crack cocaine in the 1980s. More recently it was heroin. It took a toll on his family, including his two daughters. My girls, you know I can't be with them without with with if I was using because I wouldn't have time for them. You ugly man, you ugly. You know you very ugly all way around spiritually, physically mentally. You don't have nothing but negative thoughts. Person can't live like that man. Yeah, but Leonard's recovery was also impacted by a pandemic. That changed some of the methods he used to stay clean. Most importantly, group meetings with narcotics anonymous that were canceled because of social distancing 1st. He was scared because for me it was scared because you know, I knew I needed them people and I couldn't get to him, everybody wearing masks, everybody staying away from each other and that's scary for me, you know, I don't like to be isolated because disease will attack you or come at you when you're isolated. It was also difficult for Leonard to see others in the recovery community relapse as that isolation set in here in this area, spend a lot of people that have passed overdose and you know, in making and that's kind of sad, you know, because the mother has got to cry babies, got to cry. You know, Children growing up with their mothers, fathers know what, you know. So it's hard man. Yeah, like so many others in the recovery community, a shaky and Leonard were forced to adapt to find new ways to connect with others who could support them and stay on the road to recovery coming up last summer, believe it or not, we had a group of people, we started meetings in important the pandemic pushback faced with isolation and setbacks at times. I could have broken the recovery community finds new ways to support each other and stay on track. We got to see a lot of people who you know, rallied together and we're trying to carry people throughout this when our chronicle special returns. Welcome back to our Chronicle special road to recovery with a deadly pandemic impacting recovery efforts for those battling addiction. The recovery community knew they needed to react and adapt quickly. It was quite literally a matter of life and death with many of their traditional programs changed or cancelled by covid restrictions. The community rallied together to save lives. I didn't want to go back to active addiction, I didn't want that insanity. He knew that the coronavirus pandemic and the isolation and uncertainty that came with. It could throw her off course as she worked to stay clean. It was just an experience that I never would have imagined. It just came out of nowhere and we had to adjust. So like many in the recovery community, she went online zoom meetings while not perfect became a lifeline that was very difficult because going a year with face to face meetings and creating that bond with that person and then going to zoom. It's like dang, I wish I wish I could be there with you. It's very important, imperative to recovery that you stay committed and consistent with these programs that are helping we're humans, we need that human contact. That's how we lift each other up. We get divide with each other and look at somebody in the eyes, um can embrace somebody threw a video but it was better than no contact at all. Counselors like Melinda worked hard to stay in touch with her clients at the res project consistently reaching out to our participants, letting them know that we were there calling them texting them just trying to be as present as possible for them. It was very difficult because it's very hard to gauge how somebody is doing in the recovery because you have to rely on the fact that they're being open and honest. I participated in groups so at times Melinda still ventured out for face to face meetings because there were so many families who were in crisis situations and to me the need and want to help them outweighed my fear of contracting covid needing that in person connection and with indoor support meeting, shut down. Other groups found ways to try to meet up more safely. Last summer, believe it or not, we had a group of people, we started meetings in the part, you know, they wouldn't allow us to be together and we had to wear masks. So we, we was going to the park and a lot of those people that was in that group, we're still together and learning how to fight and handle that disease, you know, and I need people, I need my people that understand me. We lost our support meetings. Um, you know, we couldn't meet in churches anymore. We couldn't meet in fire halls anymore. So we started meeting in parks. Um, we started meeting wherever we could gather and for others in the recovery community, it meant working harder than ever to connect, really figuring out who who would be most likely to have some sort of contact with kids and families that may be impacted by addiction, little by little those connections were made and maintained. We're trying to reach out to people who are in active addiction and convince them why life is worth living. And when I look back on it now, as really scary as it was early on, we showed positive healthy recovery because we figured it all out and we move forward in the best way that we can, I think our overdose numbers would have been a lot higher had it not been for the effort that was made in the community, a shaky and Leonard or examples of how that effort worked despite all the challenges, the ups and downs that changes in routine and a global pandemic, they are both still clean. It just feels better to be around people, especially after being isolated for a while. The pandemics is isolating, it's just it isolated a lot of us and going down that path, That wrong path, It's hard to get out of that deep hole without a ladder. You could feel it, it was like a your spirit can feel when you're around people and that program. I mean we hug each other and you know, you get a good feeling the personal relationships grew stronger because knowing that we can contract this disease and die, it made us value each other's lives and once you get a support group, you know, you will find people that care for you. So um I'm just better getting better and better still got a way to go, what is happening one day to tell me at times I could have broken but with the support I had I was able to overcome um all of these challenges I don't wanna you know, I'll be gone right now. I got some things to do. I miss some things out of like me, how they got through it. It's amazing to me. I don't know that there is many things in life that are more beautiful than that for somebody to find their life even in the midst of a pandemic when they're already dealing with substance use disorder I guess remarkable. Mm. Mhm. And there is more good news to report after. So much tragedy over the past 16 months in some places, the overdose numbers do seem to be improving a bit recently, including in your county where as we mentioned, they saw their highest overdose number ever in March. And many of those support groups are now meeting in person again and recovery programs are back up and running. We'll be right back after this with where you can get help if you or a loved one is struggling with addiction. Yeah, welcome back. As we showed you earlier, the recovery community has rallied around those fighting to stay clean. Even during the challenges of the pandemic. If you or a loved one needs help with addiction, there is help out there, you can call this helpline 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It's 1 806 6 to help. That's 1 806 6 to 4357. Often the first step to recovery is reaching out for help. While no one can change what's happened during the pandemic. Many people are working to make things better in the future on the road to recovery. Thank you for joining us. I'm jerry Geshe. Goodnight. Yeah. <4227 22:17:> 38 It was kind of a perfect storm." WHAT HAPPENS WHEA N PANDEMIC HITS -- IN THE MIDDLE OF AN ALREADY DEADLY EPIDEMIC? <4474 23:08:> 22 "Unfortunately there was a huge increase in relapse and overdose deaths. T he last 18 months we've been surrounded by a lot of tragedy." MORE ISOLATION FOR THOSE STRUGGLING WITH OPIOID ADDICTION. <5919 10:15:18> "It's a very dangerous place for somebody in early recovery to be." AND A SPIKE IN DRUG OVERDOSE DEATHS. <5898 9:52:28> "Definitely things that we hadn't seen for my entire time and I know in the history of this office." TONIGHT... A LOOK AT HOW THE COVID PANDEMIC -- SENT THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC INTO OVERDRIVE... <5829 10:31:> 04 "Here in this area, there's been a lot of people that have passed, overdos, ed didn't make it." AND TURNED THE RECOVERY COMMUNITY UPSIDE DOWN. <6021 10:27:11> "We did have a lot of people drop out of treatment" <4227 22:18:53> "It was more difficult to relyal maintain that kind of support and connection that folks needed." BUT THAT COMMUNITY RESPONDED... FRIENDS... FAMILY... COUNSELORS... <4474 22:40:27> "At times, I could have broken." <4474 22:37:30> "I didn't want to go back to active addiction." IN THE FACE OF UNECPREDENTED UNCERTAINTY AND CHALLENGE. <5919 10:19:17> "I think our overdose numbers would have beea n lot higher had it not been for the effort that was made." <4478 23:23:00> "How they got through it. It's amazing to me. I don't know there are many things in life that are more beautiful enth that." <4474 22:32:38> "With all this perseverance and strenh gt and courage and to know that there's hope. Recovery is possible." GOOD EVENING... I'M JERE GH.IS THE COVID PANDEMIC IS UNLIKE ANYTHING WE'VE EV ER PERSONALLY EXPERIENCED BEFORE -- THE THREAT OF A HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS, DEADLY DISEASE QUICKLY SPREADING THROUGHOUT OUR SOCIETY LED TO AN UNPRECEDENTED RESPONSE. SCHOOLS AND BUSINESSES CLOSED. PEOPLE TOLD TO STAY IN THEIR HOMES -- AND AVOID SOCIAL CONTACT. BY NOW WE KNOW THE IMPA CT IT'S ALL HAD... FROM OUR ECONOMY TO OUR MENTAL HEALTH. AND AMONG THE MANY THINGS THE PANDEMIC IMPACTED WAS SOMETHING THAT HAD ALREADY CAUSED SO MUCH DEATH -- BOTH LOCAY LLD ANNATIONALLY. THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC HAD BEEN LEADING TO DRUG OVERDOSES FOR YEARS... AS MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS AND OTHERS STRGLUGED TO FIND A WAY TO STEM THE TIDE. THE PANDEMIC -- AND THE ASMEURES TAKEN TO TRY TO STOP THE SPREAD OF COVID-19 -- BROUGHT A WHOLE NEW CHALLENGE FOR THOSE TONHE FRONT LINES OF THE DRUG CRISIS... AND RECORD- BREAKING NUMBERS OF OVERDOSES. TONIGHT... WE TALK TO THOSE IMPACTED BY OPIOID DIADCTION -- FROM THOSE IN RECOVERY -- TO THE PEOPLE HELPING THEM ON THAT JOURNEY. BATTLING DRUG ADDICTION IS ALREADY A LONG AND DIFFICULT ROAD... ONE THAT ONLY BECAME MORE DIFFICULT-- WHEN A WORLDWIDE CRISIS HIT. --news clips -- LAST SPRING... AS THE GROWING COVID PANDEMIC DOMINATED THE HEADLINES... ---news clip - THOSE IN THE MIDDLE OF BATTLING AN EPIDEMIC KW NE EVERYTHING WAS ABOUT TO CHANGE. <5918 10:11:05> "This illness does not need any help being vadeatsting." SCOTT THERUR WAS IMMEDIATELY CONCERNED ABOUT THE PEOPLE HE HELPS WITH THE LANCASTER COUNTY RECOVERY ALLIANCE. <5919 10:14:02> "People were isolated and didn't know wh tato do." HE KNEW THOSE STRUGGLING WITH ADDICTION -- AND IN THE EARLY STAGESF ORECOVERY --- WERE GOING TO BE IMPACTED BY A SUDDENLY CHANGED WORLD. <5918 10:11:47> "People became very anxious, very afraid, very isolated, we lost all of our social connections, things that we depend , on things that we need to stay healthy in early recovery and overnight they jt us kind supports away suddenly you are on your own on an island which is the worst place to be. It's where the disease wants you to be." <5919 10:15:18> "It's a very dangerous place for somebody in early recovery to be." LIKE THE REST OF US... PEOPLE IN ADDICTION -AND RECOVERY- WERE CONCERNED ABOUT A NEW, CONTAGIOUS HEALTH THREAT. AND MANY TIMES... THAT QUICKLY LED TO PROBLEMS. <4474 23:07:19> "It's been a very difficult time." MELINDA REYES AYALA IS A RECOVERY SPECIALISWIT TH THE RASE PROJECT IN LANCASTER. SHE'S ALSO IN LONG- TIME RECOVERY HERSELF... CLEAN FOR FIVE YEARS. THE PANDEMIC THREW HER... AND THOSE SHE HELPS FOR A LOOP. <4474 237::0> 42 "Working as a recovery specialist we're trying to help individuals through a process that we were struggling through ourselves." <4474 23:07:> 27 "When the pandemic hit, we became isolated, we weren't allowed to leave our houses, we wer't en allowed to go to meetings so a lot of how we found peace and support through our recovery was taken away from us." THE IMPACT THE PANDEMIC HAD ON THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC WAS ALMOST IMMEDIATE. DRUG OVERDOSES TINAONWIDE SPIKED IN APRIL AND MAY OF LAST YEAR... AND 2020 SET A RECORD FOR THE MOST OVERDOSE DEATHS IN A SINGLE YEAR NATIONWIDE... UP 29 PERCENT. IT WAS THE SAME DEADLY RESULT CLOSER TO HOME. .. INCREASED 16 PERCENT LAST YEAR IN PENNSYLVANIA FROM THE YEAR BEFORE. <5898 9:51:06> "It did exacerbate it a lot of us believe." THE NUMBERS SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY AS WELL. PAM GAY IS THE YORK AND HIT AN ALL-TIME HIGH THIS PAST MARCH. <5898 9:48:49> "That's our worst month we've ever had in the history of this office." <5898 9:52:28> "Definitely things that we hadn't seen for emyntire time and I know in the history of this office, but the pandemic definity el exacerbated a lot of it, we feel." IT WAS EVEN MORE FRUSTRATING BECAUSE IN SOME AREAS... OVERDOSES HAD SHOWN A MODEST It was kind of a perfect storm unfortunately." THOSE ON THE FRONT LINES KNEW THEY HAD TO RESPOND IMMEDIATELY. CHRIS GLOVER IS WITH A LANCASTER COUNTY GROUP -- JOINING FORCES F OR CHILDREN -- THAT HELPS KIDS IMPACTED BY ADDICTION. <4227 22:15:52> "We were concerned becau se kiddos were home and there wasn't that safe person at school that might identify that there was something wrong and make that co nnection." <4227 22:16:53> "When kiddos have the opportunity to go to daycare or go to school, somebody is trained to keep an eye out for those kinds of things and then we can get folks connected. So when that wasn't happening, when there were less of those safe, caring, concerned eyes on young folk ns,obody really knows exactly what was happening but what we are seeing a nd understanding from our partners at children and youth is that they are seeing more severe cases of abuse and neglect throughout the pandemic. All that add sedtrs,es job loss, physical health, mental health as a result of that added stress d an turning to those unheahy lt coping stratie" eg <4227 22:17:47> "Oh, it breaks my heart. It absolutely breaks my heart." THE PANDEMIC UPENDED MANY OF THE STRATEGIES AND METHODS USED TO HELP PEOPLE BREAK THE CYCLE OF ADDICTIO..N. CONNECTIONS THAT ARE SO IMPORTANT WERE SUDDENLY CUT OFF. <6021 10:21:> 54 "Keeping people engaged in treatment and retained in treatment and that was a very big challenge with the pandemic." <6021 10:2417:> "The pandemic has really played a part in people dropping out of treatment. They isolated, it was not as engaging for them for them to come into the appointment and th ey simply dropped out." <4474 23:08:22> "Unfortunately there was a huge increase in relap se and overdose deaths. The EVEN GOVERNMENT STIMULUS MONEY -- MEANT TO HELP PEOPLE-- CAUSED A PROBLEM... <4474 23:08:38> "They had access to more money in some of these situations, depression was on a rise, post partum depression." <4474 23:09:00> "It was just this huge culmination of things th at led to a huge disaster." --shakes head. "I'm sorry, I need a minute. Whew." MELINDA LOST ONE OF H ER BEST FRIENDS. <4474 23:16:47> "Last year at 12:30 in t he afternoon I got the call that she had relapsed and it killed her." <4474 23:16:34> "She had been doing well. It was kind of a shock. There's always that possibility when people actively use but we thought she was doing okay." <4 474 23:17:43> "I feel like it was mia xture of depression, the pandemic, the isolation, trauma." <4474 23:17:02> --shakes head. "You would think because we are surrounded by death because of overdoses all the time that it would get easier but it doesn't because these are human lives and it's hard to wrap your mind around how someone that you loved and someone who had plans for the next day and thoughts and opinions isn't here anymore..." <4474 23:17:59> "We really didn't have anything to help us process our thoughts and our minds are our own "I lost several friends. People that.. It was a reminder to me of how devastating this illness is because they were friends of mine that I never would have thought would succumb to this illness." <5919 10:18:> 21 "It doesn't take long. It does not take long for this illness to take lives. It can happen in 60 seconds." <5919 10:28:21> "When this all happened, eir thrlwods were turned upside down. Many are still struggling to find their way back to sobriety from that. 'And some didn't make it.' "Some did not make it." <4478 23:23:35> "There are a lot of people who were in long term <4478 23:19:56> "It wasn't until the pandemic that I had experienced a loss of my participants. I've had several participants who passed away. Pregnant, at home with their childreno s that was new to me." <4478 23:20:22> "It was like wave after wave. I had participan ts that were passing away from overdoses. I had family members and friends who were passing away beuse ca of covid, then I lose my own friend so professionally and personally it's the hardest year I've ever experienced in my life." COMING UP ON CHRONICLE STATE OF ADDICTION... THE ROAD TO RECOVERY. <4474 22:37:> 30 "I didn't want to go back to active addiction. I didn't want that insanity." GOING THROU GH RECOVERY... DURING A PANDEMIC. <4474 22:36:56> "It brought that isolation, that separation ." WE TALK TO PEOPLE WHO WENT THROUGH IT FIRST-HAND. <5829 103::2> 02 "At first I was scared because for me, it was scared because I knew I needed those people and I couldn't get to th."em WELCOME BACK TO OUR CHRONICLE SPECIAL... ROAD TO RECOVERY. A S THE COVID PANDEMIC RAGED... UPENDING LIFE IN AMERICA... PEOPLE IN EARLY RECOVERY FROM DRUG ABUSE STRUGGLED TO FIND A WAY TO SY TA CLEAN... AND KEEP ALL OF THE HARD-EARNED PROGRESS THEY HAD MADE SO FAR. WITH ISOLATION MAA JOR CONCERN... THEY TRIED TO FIND NEW WAYS TO KEEP THE CONNECTIONS THAT WERE SO IMRTPOANT TO THEIR <5792 2:30> -- singing to daug erht OSHAKEE ZINC DOESN'T TAKE A MOMENT WITH HER DAUGHTER FOR GRANTED... --more nat-- s- SHE'S WORKED TOO HARD -- D ANOVERCOME TOO MUCH- - TO GET TO THIS POINT. <4474 22:41:16> "My daughter is just so precious. She's got these big ole ears. She's amazing. The most beautiful giftnd a that's what I have now." IT TRULY HAS BEEN A LONG ADRO. OSHAKEE'S STRUGGLE WITH SUBSTANCES STARTED WN HE SHE WAS YOUNG. <4474 22:20:55> "My addiction started when I was a child. At the age of 7 I started smoking cigarettes." THAT LEAD TO MARIJUANA AT 13... AND ALCOHOL AT 16. <4474 22:21:> 18 "I was very lost in that. Very lost in that. It just progressed and got worse and got worse and that vicious cycle just kept going." EVENTUALLY... AS A YOUNG ADULT... SHE WAS SHOOTING HEROIN... AND IN THE THROES OF OPIOID ADDICTION. <4474 :222571:> "It was hell on earth. It was death. That injection was just... you're killing yourself. Slowly killing yourself." OVER THE YEARS... SHE'S BEEN IN AND OUT OF REHAB SEVERAL TIMES... AND EXPERIENCED HOMELESSNESS AND INCARCERATION. BUT AS SHE STARTED ANOTHER TRY AT GETTING CLEAN... THIS TIME WITH LONGER TREATMENT PROGRA..M. THE COVID PANDEMIC HIT. SHE WAS IN A RECOVERY HOUSE AT THE TIME. <4474 22:30:16> "It impacted my entireif le in every area of my life." <4474 22:325> 4: "During the pandemic, there were very sad moments, angry moments, why is this happening, how is this happening, why is it continuing to happen?" <4474 22:34:02> "Obsesve tsiughohts, compulsive actions, you just do things without thinking. It makes you do things you really don't wa tntdoo just to get out of that feeling because addicts have a hard time processing through their emotions." BUT SHE DIDN'T WANT ANYTHING -- EVEN THE PANDEMIC -- TO THROW HER OFF COURSE. AND THIS TIME... SHE HAD YET ANOTHER REASON TO ST AY ON THE RIGHT PATH. <4474 22:22:15> "I lost my friend last year during the pandemic and that changed my life." <4474 22:22:29> "I wanted to live for r, he have a life for her. Do the things that she would've done." <4474 22:31:35> "I didn't want to go back after all that time. I h ad over a year clean. I didn't want to go back to something that could kill me." -- nats of Leonard-- LEONARD G DYRA UNDERSTANDS WHAT OSHAKEE WAS GOING THROUGH. HIS ROAD TO RECOVERY HAS BEEN LONG AS WELL... <5829 10:16:38> "Right now, we living okay. Living the goo" d. LEONARD FIRST GOT INTO DRUGS WITH CRACK COCAINE IN THE 1980'S. .. MORE RECENTLY... IT WAS HEROIN. IT TOOK A TOLL ON HIS FAMILY... INCLUDING HIS TWO DAUGHTERS. <5829 10:19:42> "My girls, I can't be with them if I was using because I wouldn't have time for them." <5829 10:33:22> "You're ug, lyn.ma You're ugly. You're very, very ugly all the way around. Spiritually, physically, mentally, you don't have nothing but negati ve thoughts. A person can 't live like that, you know ?" BUT LEONARD'S RECOVERY WAS ALSO IMPACTED BY A PANDEMIC THAT CHANGED SOME OF THE METHODS HE USED TO STAY CLEAN. MOST IMPORTANTLY... GROUP MEETINGS WH IT NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS THAT WERE CANCELLED BECAUSE OF SOCIAL DISTANCING. <5829 10:23:02> "At first I was scared because for me, it was scared because I knew I needed those people and I couldn't get to them. Everybody wearing masks, everybody staying away from each other." <5829 10:25:> 33 "That's scary for me. I don't like to be isolated because as you know, drug addiction is a disease. d An the disease will attack you or come at you when you're isolated." IT WAS SOALIF DFICULT FOR LEONARD TO SEE OTHERS IN THE RECOVERY COMMUNITY REPSLAASE THAT ISOLATION SET IN. <5829 10:31:04> "Here in this area, thers e' been a lot of people that have passed, overdosed, didn't make it and that's kind of sad. A mother's gotta cry, babies gotta cry, children growing up without mothers and fathers. It's hard, man. " thers. It's hard, man. SO LIKE SO MANY OTHERS IN THE RECOVERY COMMUNITY. .. OSHAKEE AND LEONARD WERE FORCED TO ADAPT. .. TO FIND NEW WAYS TO CONNECT WITH OTHERS WHO COULD SUPPORT TH... EM AND STAY ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY. COMING UP... <5829 10:22:14> "Last summer, believe it or not, we had a group of people, we started meetings in the park ." THE PANDEMIC PUSHBACK. FACED WITH ISOLATION AND SETBACKS... <4474 22:40:27> "At times, I could have broken." THE RECOVERY COMMUNITY FINDS NEW WAYS TO SUPPORT EA CH OTHER... AND STAY ON TRACK. <4474 23:18:58> "We got to see a lot of people who rallied together and were trying to carry people throughout this. WELCOME BACK TO OUR CHRONICLE SPECIAL... ROAD TO RECOVERY. WITH A DEADLY PANDEMIC IMPACTING RECOVERY EFFORTS FOR THOSE BATTLING ADDICTION... THE RECOVERY COMMUNITY KNEW THEY NEEDED TO REACT --AND ADAPT-- QUICKLY. IT WAS QUITE LITERALLY A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH. WITH MANY OF THEIR TRADITIONAL PROGRAMS CHANGED OR CANCELLED BY COVID RESTRICTIONS... THE COMMUNITY RALLIED TOGETHERO T <4474 22:37:> 30 "I didn't want to go back to active addiction. I didn 't want that insanity." OSKAKEE KNEW THAT THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC -- AND THE ISOLATION AND UNCERTAINTY THAT CAME WITH IT -- COULD THROW HER OFF COURSE AS SHE WORKED TO STAY CLEAN. <4474 22:39:40> "It was just an experience that I never would have imagined. It just came out of nowhe are wnde had to adjust." SO LIKE MANY IN THE RECOVERY COMMUNITY... SHE WENT ONLINE. ZOOM MEETINGS -- WHILE NOT PERFECT -- BECAME A LIFELINE. <4474 22:35:45> "It's very important, imperative to recovery that you stay committed and consistent with these programs that are helping because with that consistency you maintain "That was very difficult because going a year with face to face meetings and creating that bond with that person and then going to zoom it's like dang, I wish I could be there with you." <4474 23:10:05> "We're humans. We need that human contact. That's how we lift each other up. We get to vibe with each in the eyes. Can't embrace somebody through a video ." BUT IT WAS BETTER THAN NO CONTACT AT ALL. COUNSELORS LIKE MELINDA WORKED HARD STOTAY IN TOUCH WITH HER CLIENTS AT THE RASE PROJECT. <4474 23:09:32> "Consistently reaching out to our participants letting them know that we were there, calling them, texting them, just trying to be present as possible for them." <4474 23:08:03> t "Iwas very difficult because it was very hard to gauge how somebody's doi ng in their recovery because you have to rely on the fa ct that they're being open and honest. We weren't having that face to face contact so we only know what they're sharing with u" s. SO AT TIMES... MELINDA STILL VENTURED OUT FOR FE AC TO FACE MEETINGS. <4474 23:14:01> "There were so my an families who were in crisis situations, to me the ne ed and want to help them outweighed my fear of contracting covid." NEEDING THAINT PERSON CONNECTION... AND WITH INDOOR SUPPORT MEETINGS SHUT DOWN. .. OTHER GROUPS FOUND WAYS TO TRY TO MEET UP MORE SAFELY. <5829 10:22:14> "Last summer, believite or not, we had a group of people, we started meetings in the park. They wouldn't allow us to be together and we had to wear masks so we was going to the park having meetings. Ana d lot of those people that was in the group are still together." <5829 10:26:08> "I'm learning how to fight and handle that disee asand I need people. I need my people that understand me." <5919 10:16:> 12 "We lost our support meetings. We couldn't meet in churches anymore, we couldn't meet in fire halls anymore so we started meeting in parks, we started meeting wherever we could gather." AND FOR OTHERS IN THE RECOVERY COMMUNITY... IT MEANT WORKING HARDER THAN EVER TO CONNECT. <4227 22:19:32> "Really figuring out who would be most likely to have some sort of contact with kids and families who may be impacted by addictn.io" LITTLE BY LITTLE... THOSE CONNECTIONS WERE MADE... AND MAINTAINED... <4474 23:11:33> "We're trying to reach out to people who are in active addiction ancod innvce them why life is worth living." <5919 10:16:> 57 "When I look back on it now, as scary as it was early on, we showed positive, healthy recovery because we figured it all out and moved forward in the best way that we can." <5919 10:19:17> "I think our overdose numbers would have been a lot higher had it not been for the effort that was made in the community." OSKAKEE... AND LEONARD... ARE EXAMPLES OF HOW THAT EFFORT WORKED. DESPITE ALL THE CHALLENGES... THE UPS AND DOWNS... THE CHANGES IN ROUTINE. .. AND A GLOBAL PANDEMIC... THEY ARE BOTH STILL CLEAN. <5829 10:27:08> "It just feels better to be around people especial ly after being isolated for a while and it was good. It was good." <5829 10:26:49> "You could feel it. It was like your spirit could feel, when you're around people in that program, we hug each other and you get a good feeling, a much better feeling." <4474 22:44:09> "The pandemic is isolating. It isolated a lot of us and going down that "The personal relationships grew stronger because knowing that we can contract this disease and die it made us value each others' lives." <4474 22:40:27> "At times, I could have broken. But with the support I haI d was able to overcome all of these "Once you get a support group, you will find people that care for you so I'm just better. I'm getting better and ttbeer. Still got a ways to go but it's happening. One day at a time, man ." <4474 22:24:33> "I wanted to give my schedule, a routine." <5829 <5829 10:31:> 58 "I don't want to be gone right now. I got some things to do. I missed kn towhere are many things in life that are more beautiful then that, for somebody to find their le if substance use disorder. That's remarkae.bl THERE IS MORE GOOD NEWS TO REPORT AFTER MSOUCH TRAGEDY OVER THE PAST 16 MONTHS.. IN SOME PLACES, THE OVERDOSE NUMBERS DO SEEM TO BE IMPROVING A BIT RECENTLY... INCLUDING IN YORK COUNTY... WHERE ASE W MENTIONED... THEY SAW THEIR HIGHEST OVERDOSE NUMBER EVER IN MARCH. AND MANY OF THOSE SUPPORT GROUPS ARE NOW MEETING IN PERSON AGAIN... AND RECOVERY PROGRAMS AR E BACK UP AND RUNNING. WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK AFTER THIS... WITH WHERE YOU CAN GEHET LP... WELCOME BACK. AS WE SHOWED YOU EARLIER... THE RECOVERY COMMUNITY HAS RALLIED ABOUT THOSE FIGHTING TO STAY CLEAN... EVEN DURING THE CHALLENGES OF THE PANDEMIC. IF YOU OR A LOVED ONE NEEDS HELP WITH ADDICTION... THERE IS HELP OUT THE. RE YOU CAN CALL THIS HELPLINE 24 HOURS A DAY... 7 DAYS A WEE K. 1-800-662-HELP. THAT'S 1-800-662- OFTEN THE FIRST STEP TO RECOVERY IS REACHING OUT FOR HEL P. WHILE NO ONE CAN CHANGE WHAT'S HAPPENED DURING T HE PANDEMIC... MANY PEOPLE ARE WORKING TO MAKE THINGS BETTER IN THE FUTURE... ON THE ROAD TO JOINING US... I'M JERE GI