Cobleskill's version of the Gloucester Angels, a community-based effort to help heroin and opiate addicts come clean, is ready for the final piece:
Signing up and training the volunteers who'll serve as mentors-Angels--both before and after recovery.
Training for Cobleskill's Gloucester Angels, which is a joint project between the Cobleskill Police Department and Schoharie County Council on Alcohol and Substance Abuse, will be held Wednesday, February 17, 6:30-9pm, and Saturday, February 20, 9-11:30am, at the SCCASA offices at 349 Mineral Springs Road (formerly County Planning.)
Through a partnership with the not-for-profit Police Assisted Addiction Recovery Initiative, addicts who are ready to come clean can go to the Police Department for help, and within 24-48 hours, they'll be on their way to a treatment facility at little or no cost to themselves.
SCCASA Executive Director Norine Hodges and Police Chief Rich Bialkowski both said the Angels are crucial to the effort's success.
"This is a battle bigger than any individual," Ms. Hodges said. "It won't work unless we all work together to make a difference in our community."
Treatment remains the toughest part of the recovery process, she said, but at the same time, when addicts return hope, there has to be something in place to help them stay clean.
She and Chief Biaklowski think that something is the Gloucester Angels.
Ms. Hodges and Cyd Collischonn of the Calvary Assembly of God have been reaching out to local ministers to get their help in recruiting-or serving-as Angels and Chief Bialkowski said he's received calls from people volunteering as well.
It helps, Ms. Hodges and Chief Bialkowski said, if Angels have some experience in dealing with addiction, whether it through a family member's battle-or their own.
There will be an application process, Chief Bialkowski said, and once there's a list of trained volunteers, beginning in late February or early March, addicts who come in for help will be matched with an Angel.
"Whether Angels get called or not, they'll still have the training and that in itself is a real asset to the community," said Pam Levy of the Catskill Center for Independence, which is also interested in the program.
Chief Bialkowski said whatever relationship the Angel and the addict develop will be up to them.
Some may just talk on the phone, some Angels may just point their partner in the direction of existing services and resources, some may forge a relationship that becomes a friendship.
"It's important to note that this won't work without community involvement," Chief Bialkowski said. "It's a community problem."
Angel applicatants will be screened and not everyone will make the cut.
But Ms. Hodges stressed no one who's interested in volunteering should be afraid to apply.
"People who've been down this road and then made it out of recovery, they're always looking for ways to give back," she said.
"Their experience in having been there is invaluable. This is one way for them to help others."
For more information on the Angels or to sign up for the training, contact Ms. Hodges at 234-8705 or Chief Biaklowski at 234-2923.