ROANOKE, Va. – September is National Recovery Month. All month long, the Bradley Free Clinic’s HOPE Initiative is stepping up outreach to reach people often overlooked—those experiencing homelessness and college students—by distributing Narcan.
“Right now, the whole theme is restoring aspects of life for every individual. That’s the theme of Recovery Month. And it’s so important, that sense of community and that sense just having that support there of somebody that’s gonna hold your hand,” said Behavioral Health Department Manager Wendy Dudley with the Bradley Free Clinic.
The HOPE Initiative was founded in 2016 at the Bradley Free Clinic. Since its inception, the group has helped about 3,000 people. Last year, the HOPE Initiative assisted approximately 900 people, with nearly half successfully completing their first year of recovery.
“I’m a person in long-term recovery, and I didn’t have somebody who showed that came the same kind of support to me when I was going through my own recovery journey, and it would have made such a huge difference,” said Dudley.
This month, the group plans to distribute 500 bags filled with Narcan and essential hygiene items, including toothpaste, wipes, and deodorant. Teams will begin at several homeless encampments and will also bring Narcan and information to students at Virginia Western Community College, Hollins University and Roanoke College.
“They don’t really know about our services all the time. They’re not the ones coming to the resource fairs, and so we’re going out to those college campuses and really training and touching them and trying to get them trained on Revive, which is that reversal. And just trying to provide them with services so that they know that the HOPE Initiative is here to help them,” said Dudley.
She also said passing out Narcan to the community will help overdose rates come down.
“And so as much as we can flood the community with Narcan, it’s gonna be our best chance,” said Dudley.
At the heart of the HOPE Initiative are peer recovery specialists—people in recovery who provide hands-on support, navigation, and encouragement. Peer recovery specialists conduct intake sessions, connect clients with inpatient and outpatient treatment, assist with housing challenges, and work with the court system.
One of those specialists, Cynthia Haley, went through the HOPE Initiative herself four years ago. She now responds to overdose calls alongside Roanoke Fire EMS and supervises other peer recovery staff.
She recommends anyone struggling come to the HOPE Initiative or other similar programs to seek help.
“To be able to sit here now as part of the HOPE Initiative and help other people. That cycle of healing, it’s powerful, it’s real, and it gives me so much purpose every single day to take a lot of the shame and the guilt that I struggled with and turn it into something positive,” said Haley.