For more information, go to: Willamette Family
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MICHAEL DUNNE: I'm Michael Dunne. You've heard it over and over again. Our state and community are suffering under the crisis of substance abuse and addiction. There isn't a day that goes by when our streets, emergency rooms and jails aren't struggling under the weight of it. Today, on the show, you'll hear about a new, expanded treatment service from a local provider, Willamette family, called Buckley house, named after the founders of the organization. They started treating those with addiction in their own home back in the 1960s and have now opened a facility that will help with the massive burden of substance abuse. Unlike many services right now, they are actually growing with the aid of government funding. While every generation faces a new drug that creates a new generation of problems, today's crisis with fentanyl might be the most challenging yet it takes new protocols and new and expanded services to provide help. Today on the show, you'll hear about just such an expansion in our community. Eva Williams, Executive Director and Colleen Smith, Senior Director of Community Relations of Willamette family. Thanks to you both for coming in and talking with us.
EVA WILLIAMS/COLLEEN SMITH: Thank you so much.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Colleen. I'm going to start with you. What is Willamette Family? Tell our listeners what you do.
COLLEEN SMITH: Oh my gosh, Willamette Family, our primary job in the community is to treat people with substance abuse issues, and that can span anywhere from alcohol to benzodiazepines to fentanyl, cocaine and even inhalants. It just depends on what the need is of the individual. We have three different sites for residential services. We have our Cheshire location, and we have two different programs there. We have women in or, I'm sorry, our sunrise house, which is for individuals that do not have their children with them. And then we have families in recovery, and that program is specifically tailored to individuals that have their children in care with them at the time of their arrival into our services. And on that premise too, we also have our Child Development Center, which is an amazing, magical place that provides the best care for our kiddos that come into care with their parents. And then we have our men's residential center, which is located at 1040, Green Acres road, and that's the Carlton House. And they have, they treat men and parenting. They don't have their children with them there, but we have specific programs and education that we tailor to individuals that have their children or will have their children placed in their custody when they leave residential treatment. And then, of course, we have our amazing Buckley house, and we have our downtown Treatment Center, which is our administration, and it also houses all of our outpatient programs, which we have, anything from DUI treatment to intensive day treatment. Intensive day treatment is 20 hours a week, five days a week, and we provide lunch and everything that they need while they are there. Then we have intensive day treatment, or intensive outpatient, which is three days a week, and then we have outpatient, which is two days a week, and followed by that is our DUI treatment. So, it just means we have a continuum of care that ranges anywhere from residential to outpatient services.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Eva, talk about the growth in services. You know, we're going to talk about Buckley House, your new expanded program, in a minute, but just talk about the need and the growth in services since you opened in, I believe it was 1964.
EVA WILLIAMS: We absolutely did open our doors in 1964 we've just recently celebrated 60 years. Our humble beginnings began at Buckley house, and that's why this project we'll talk about in a little bit is so important to us. We began as a Ma and Pa effort to help alcoholics in Eugene Springfield, and they helped these alcoholics in their own home. Their names were George and honey Buckley, and what they did was something that nobody was doing. So, they were helping people detox from alcohol, prior to them starting to work on themselves in the 12-step program or 12 step community. And that's the beginning, and from there, it just expanded. To a slightly bigger home with five people that live there and so on. Our facility that we're moving out of here shortly, currently has a mere 22 beds in it for people to medically, medically withdraw from alcohol and drugs.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Colleen detoxification center. Can you explain what that is and perhaps separate some myth from fact in what a detox center is?
COLLEEN SMITH: Yes, most definitely. Oftentimes, the first place that they need to go is, is to our Buckley house, and the reason why is because they're coming off substances that could potentially cause life threatening or cause death if they try and withdraw by themselves, specifically alcohol and benzodiazepines. And benzodiazepines are anything from valium to Xanax, which can be life threatening along with alcohol, and then we have our opiates, we all know about fentanyl, and then the different things that they're cutting fentanyl with really makes it hard for an individual to try and withdraw and get off those substances by themselves and do it safely. The other component that we have is oftentimes, when you're under the influence of substances. You're not aware of your body. You're not aware of the physical things that are going on with you, or the warning signs that your body tells you, like, Hey, you're hungry, you need to eat something. You're going to pass out, or, I have a wound on my body that needs treatment, and you're not paying attention to that. You're not aware of it. You're not necessarily feeling the pain from those issues that are currently going on with you. So, a lot of times, people need to have that full spectrum of care where it's not just about withdrawing off the medication or the substances, but it's about also looking at all the medical components that need to be addressed at the same time so that person can safely and effectively have the best healing outcome possible so that they can go on to their next level of care, whether that's residential, intensive day treatment or going back into the community. Because sometimes we have individuals who work and they need to go back to work, and so by having a safe place to go where they're being medically monitored to make sure that they're okay, that you know nothing's happening to them. They don't need to go to the hospital. They're not in cardiac arrest or not breathing correctly. We have those individuals there that have amazing hearts, that are looking at all of that to appropriately address and treat an individual so that they can have the life that they want, the start of the life that they want.
EVA WILLIAMS: You know, Colleen, I would also add that detox is where the psychological dependence on the substances also begins. So, what you've been referring to is the physical dependence of the physical symptoms that the body goes through as they're expelling the drugs from the body. But there's also a psychological dependence that encourages people to use on a regular basis. It encourages people to do things that they wouldn't normally do, to engage in activities that they wouldn't normally engage in, and treatment really begins when you start working on the psychological dependence, when you start changing that behavior, when you start even just viewing the behavior as something that you can change. And so, when Colleen is referring to all these different levels of care or treatment that Willamette Family offers she's referring to that length of time that it really takes in a professional setting for somebody to begin changing the mindset of substance use. And this actually goes on far beyond after treatment, where people can choose to participate in a 12-step program or other pro social activities that helps them maintain an emotional health that's needed for recovery.
COLLEEN SMITH: And I just wanted to add to that's that was very important to cover that Eva, and that's what makes us stand out again, you know, compared to other treatments that may be offered, because we're not just doing the physical part, we're creating behavioral changes which can last a lifetime.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Eva, with any capital campaign, it sort of often takes a village to get it done. Talk about the funding model you use to fund and build the Buckley house?
EVA WILLIAMS: Absolutely, it does take a village. In fact, it takes an entire state. And so, Willamette Family was able to execute this project. Because of the investment from legislators in the last short session, they invested $4 million which was 64% of the funds needed to complete this project. And without that, without that infusion of funds, without the confidence that they had in Willamette Family and the support we would not be where we are today, offering the community as much as we are.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Colleen, what is Buckley house going to allow you to do that maybe you couldn't do before?
COLLEEN SMITH: Oh my gosh, we're so excited about the fact that at our new Buckley house, you know, Eva was talking about how many beds we'll have. We'll have 35 detox beds, which is an increase from 22 so we'll be increasing by 13. And then the most exciting part of this too, is that we're going to have high intensity residential and we'll have 20 beds. And so, what's different about this for us is that individuals who are detoxing in the past, what would happen is, if we couldn't get them into like, let's say they needed a residential level, that level of care, we could not get them into a place like that. We would have to try and bridge care somehow, either by having them go to a recovery house and do intensive day treatment until a residential bed opened up, or maybe it was just like three days and a bed was going to open up, but we were still not able to keep them in our services. With us having those 20 beds for high intensity residential that will allow for those individuals to go into that placement and have more time to stabilize and be able to safely go into the next level of care. So, this new level of care that we'll be offering is really amazing, and it's much needed here in our community. I think it's not only needed in our community; that's a given. It's needed in the state Willamette families opening the second program only in this state with that level of care, that level of care is actually just slightly below a hospital level of care. And so, when we talk about detox, we talk about that physical component, those psychological components, that are taking place while in detox. A patient really is only in detox, perhaps three to seven days at the most, and so, as you can imagine, at the end of their detox, the medical staff may clear them that their detox is complete, but this doesn't mean that the individual isn't experiencing pain, anxiety, fear, uncomfortableness that they don't have, many of their symptoms still present, just not just at a more minimal level. And so, to then ask that person who's still very uncomfortable in their own skin, to then go to a residential environment where the milieu is that of let's use college as an example. People are moving around from class to class. They're going to their lockers, they're going to the dining hall. They're doing all those things. The person I just described leaving the detox facility may not be ready for that. They may actually need 24/7 continued medical monitoring, and that's what they're going to get in this new program. We're very excited to offer this to our community, to our friends, our family, you know, our neighbors, all the people around us that need this kind of treatment.
EVA WILLIAMS: We anticipate people will be in this portion of their treatment, perhaps one to three weeks at the most. It is a short stay type environment, but that's probably all that they're going to need.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Eva, I'm going to stay with you. It's a bit philosophical. We hear so much about drugs like opioids, Oxycontin, and, of course, fentanyl and that they're so highly addictive now. Now every generation faces a drug within with increasing addiction and harm. But are these new drugs making your job that much harder?
EVA WILLIAMS: It has made it difficult. What happens when a when a new substance comes on the scene, or a new combination of substances, which is what we're seeing through our patients now, is that all the protocols, all the ways in which we used to treat patients with therapy, medications, the frequency in rounding by the nurses, all of that has to be reanalyzed and written up new protocols, and so I think what it what it does, is it slows the process for our patients, as we're learning from them, because, because the situations are changing so rapidly,
MICHAEL DUNNE: Colleen, is society evolving past the idea that addiction is simply a moral failure, and are more people coming around to the fact that addiction is a disease?
COLLEEN SMITH: Well, we've, we've come a long way in this particular area that you're talking about, but we still have a long way to go, not just in our community, not just in our state, but in our whole country. I think that there's a lot more acceptance when you are talking about having a mental health condition. Say, I, you know, I have depression, I have anxiety, and still there's, there's some stigma around that. When it comes to addiction, it's a very different story. People not wanting to shout that from the rooftops. I'm a recovered addict, and this is how much time I have, because there's still a lot of fear of the judgment of people. What are they going to think of me? Are they going to be worried about me relapsing? Are they going to be thinking I'm a criminal? What are the you know, are they going to be thinking that I don't own anything, or that I've done some crazy stuff, and so that fear really prohibits us from recovering out loud, is what I like to call it, recovering out loud and being like I am in recovery, and this is who I am, and this is what where I was, and this is where I am now, really sharing that experience strength and hope, and also having that understanding that, yes, I am in recovery, and recovery is not just linear. You know, there's ups and downs, it's all over the place, and maybe I relapsed. Maybe, you know, I've relapsed more than once. That's okay, you know, because with any disease that you have, you have relapses, and no one belittles you for falling into depression again, or having an anxiety attack again, or if you're a diabetic having high blood sugars, it's there they look at what's going on with you. How can we adjust your medication? Let's talk about this more with addiction. It's often, Oh, you're back here again. You're doing this again. Why? What's going on? And we really need to change that stigma so that we have a healthier, more trauma-informed space to talk about in our community, in our state and in our community, or in the United States at large.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Eva, What's success going to look like as you expand services and provide more help to more people?
EVA WILLIAMS: Oh, success looks exactly like that. We're serving more people. We are creating more access for our community members. I shared with you before once, when we talked that Willamette Family is not the only solution. We are part of the solution. So, it's going to take a number of nonprofits in our community to come forward, and they are and so success looks like when people have questions about their mental health, questions about their substance use, that they're able to get the answers in real time. Success looks like people are able to access treatment when they are ready to access treatment, that money is not a barrier, that wait lists aren't a barrier, and that travel is not a barrier, and that people can receive the urgent care that they are asking for.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Eva, we talked about your funding with the state, but I wanted to ask you about how organizations like yours need to be extremely creative in getting funding in light of major city budget cuts and certainly huge cuts from the federal government. Talk about how collaboration is going to help.
EVA WILLIAMS: It is a crisis, and yes, we're all working together. I see that every day. I see all the MOUs that we have with other organizations. I see other organizations coming into our organization and providing assistance to our patients in areas in which we don't specialize. And so, there's been a lot of growth in working together here in our county.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Eva Williams, Executive Director and Colleen Smith, Senior Director of Community Relations of Willamette family. Thanks to you both so much for coming in and chatting with us.
EVA WILLIAMS/COLLEEN SMITH: Thank you. Thank you.
MICHAEL DUNNE: That's the show for today. All episodes of Oregon On The Record are available as a podcast at KLCC.org tomorrow on the show, you'll hear about a plan to change funding at the state level that can help towns survive the onslaught of tourists and tourism. A quick note, we asked you recently for your feedback on a show about Oregon's Death with Dignity law and the story of Tom Lehman, who took his own life using the medical aid in dying program, we received many comments via social media, and here are a few. One listener said this was a powerful interview. What a gift to share this part of his journey. Hope people will listen. Another said, my wonderful mom chose death with dignity in 2013 when she was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer. My sister and I supported her 100%. It wasn't easy, but we are still grateful she could, “move on to the next thing,” peacefully and on her terms. But we did hear from another voice who said, awful these doctors have blood on their hands. We always appreciate your comments. You can always reach us at Facebook, Instagram and blue sky, and of course, you can email us at questions@klcc.org. We also are asking you for your comments related to the recent protests and rallies we've seen in our community about ICE raids and about other policies from the White House. We want to know if you attended these events, what you saw and heard and if you will be attending more protests, and what you hope they can accomplish again, reach us via social media or at questions@klcc.org. I'm Michael Dunne, and this has been Oregon On The Record From KLCC, thanks for listening.
