Recovery: A Coordinated Community Effort

Communities who collaborate through the 100 Families Initiative are seeing measurable gains. In Pope and Yell Counties, financial stability is up 389 percent, stable housing is up 149 percent, and reliable access to food is up 64 percent—but nearly 23 percent of families arriving at intake are in active addiction or trying to hold a fragile sobriety. When the foundation of recovery is shaky, every other goal becomes harder to reach.

In response, Pope and Yell Counties met for a discussion about recovery featuring panelists with lived experience and insight to valuable resources.

Addiction recovery advocate Preston Albright gave a candid account of his own trauma, addiction, relapse, and restoration. He recalled the first time opioids seemed to quiet the ache of childhood trauma and abuse: “Oh my gosh, this is it. This is the feeling I’ve been looking for since I was this big.” After cycles of treatment and compromise, he reached a breaking point—“I was just done. Finally. I was just done.”—and began doing the deeper work.

What finally shifted was addressing the injury beneath the symptoms: “you just you just hold that rage and that anger, that hate, that bitterness, and you think you’re punishing them. But it’s like taking poison and expecting them to die.”

Today, he shares his story so people and families know where to start: “They need to know the story, that they need to know. There’s an answer, that there’s a hope that there’s somewhere you can go, that they’re not alone.”

Practical on-ramps were the focus for providers. Keri Dixon, Director of Behavioral Health at Chambers Memorial Hospital, described a low-barrier doorway for people who need acute help. “Anyone can walk into our E.R. at any time. We have trained professionals that are going to come down from our behavioral health unit and meet with you and collaborate with anyone that might be involved in your care and get you admitted.”

Chambers offers a five-to-seven-day medical detox for alcohol, opioid, and benzodiazepine use disorders, with psychiatric nursing and social work involved from admission and discharge planning beginning on day one. Co-occurring mental-health needs are addressed through the hospital’s behavioral health unit. No payer source is excluded; when someone is uninsured, staff set up a plan rather than turn them away.

Where a longer therapeutic runway is appropriate, Lake Point Recovery & Wellness provides a continuum: residential care, day treatment, intensive outpatient, and outpatient telehealth for step-down support that fits real life and work. Admissions are simple but intentional; the person seeking treatment completes a brief phone assessment to confirm clinical fit, and court-ordered referrals are coordinated with probation, DCFS, or the court as needed. One of Lake Point’s most important access points is its Specialized Women’s Services program, a 120-day model.

Admissions Coordinator Chloe Ellis describes, “That is where moms, women can bring their children with them ages six and under to treatment.” The program pairs daily clinical groups with trauma-informed childcare so mothers can build skills while staying connected to their children. Whole-person care is encouraged on campus through fitness, outdoor activities, and chaplain-led services.

Finances and logistics—often the make-or-break details—are addressed head-on. Lake Point accepts most commercial plans; because Medicaid does not cover inpatient, the team uses Emergency Solutions Grant funding to admit uninsured or under-insured clients, then stabilizes the basics with short-term rental and utility assistance while treatment continues. Case managers help clients secure sober-living or transitional housing and keep momentum through telehealth after discharge.

Throughout the conversation, partners emphasized that recovery is not an isolated clinical episode but a coordinated community undertaking. The 100 Families Initiative builds support teams around the person and the household, aligning detox and treatment with housing, food, transportation, employment, childcare, and faith or peer supports so progress in recovery translates into progress at home.

The path forward is simple and hopeful: when a neighbor is in withdrawal or medical danger, start at Chambers Memorial Hospital’s emergency department for immediate evaluation and detox. When a residential or step-down trajectory makes sense, reach Lake Point for a same-day phone assessment and planning that includes family, housing, and aftercare. Alongside these clinical services, continue wrapping support through 100 Families and community partners so stability grows in every direction.

Recovery takes time, honesty, and teamwork—but with clear entry points, sustained aftercare, and whole-family supports, neighbors can build solid ground and keep it.