Good afternoon, everyone! It feels like a century has passed since the last edition of The Floyd Forum on Friday, but it’s actually been less than a week. Wild!
The reason for the delay is twofold: First, I *was* reporting on the election Tuesday, for another Virginia-based outlet, so I’ve been a little busy. Apologies. I’ll likely have a short wrap-up of where Southwest Virginia voters came down (and hopefully, by then, who our next President will be) in tomorrow’s edition.
Secondly, though, there weren’t many public meetings this week. Floyd Town Council is tonight, and I’ll have coverage by tomorrow evening. I’m eager to get down to brass tacks—local governance, local reporting—after a week of national horserace madness. I hope you are too. Today, I share an update from New River Valley Community Services, which has recently spearheaded several exciting initiatives.
It’s a beautiful autumn day in the NRV. My advice? Put your phone down, close your laptop (after you read this, of course!) and enjoy the weather. The news will still be there when you get back. Thanks for reading and for the continued support of this venture.
-Ashley
NRVCS addresses domestic violence, opioid crisis
**If you’re experiencing a mental health crisis, you can reach NRVCS’ team of support counselors at (540) 961-8400**
New River Valley Community Services works for our community, and wants its messaging to reflect our community too. In October, the behavioral health services provider focused its attention on the issue of domestic violence. October was National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Throughout the month, the Pulaski Community Partners Coalition collaborated with Laura Beth Weaver, executive director of the local Women’s Resource Center, to produce a series of videos about domestic violence prevention. The videos centered on topics including men serving as allies for domestic violence victims; violence toward animals and its connection to domestic violence, and protecting young people from domestic violence, NRVCS Communications & Outreach Coordinator Mike Wade said.
NRVCS and the Pulaski Community Partners Coalition did some activities around domestic violence awareness last year, Wade said, because the agency understands the connection between domestic violence and substance use & mental health issues. The latter two issues are a primary focus for the agency.
This year, NRVCS was even more proactive and intentional in its outreach. The organization recruited community leaders from a variety of sectors to star in the weekly videos, Wade explained. Rather than “hire voiceover talent or some production company that featured a bunch of stock video with people with perfect houses and all that stuff in the background,” Wade said, NRVCS wanted to “keep it real.”
The agency knew that folks who watched the videos would have more faith in information coming from their neighbors. Plus, the local presence reinforced that these issues—domestic violence, substance use and mental health struggles—are not abstract ideas, affecting faraway cities. They matter here in the NRV.
Wade said it’s important for people to understand the relationship between these issues. Many of the people who come to NRVCS for help with a substance use issue or mental health concern have been impacted by domestic violence too, he explained. In some cases, the violence may be directly contributing to the secondary problems. While NRVCS works to prevent substance use disorders, harm reduction strategies are an important component of its mission.
“We try to focus on prevention of substance use, that’s still important work, but you also have to recognize how people get into that situation,” Wade said. “If we’re truly going to acknowledge that these are chronic conditions that a lot of people deal with, it’s no different than trying to recognize why someone with diabetes struggles with that. We try to explore the contributing factors to other kinds of diseases, so why shouldn’t we take that same scope and lens when dealing with substance use and mental health?”
In some ways, Wade said, the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated existing mental and behavioral health concerns. For example, while NRVCS would normally be conducting in-person Narcan administration trainings, the pandemic has made that impossible.
Narcan is an overdose-reversal medication that NRVCS distributes to folks in the region to carry on their person, and to administer if they encounter a person in crisis. The agency conducts “REVIVE” trainings on how to recognize signs of an overdose and how to respond appropriately. At the end of the trainings, each participant is given two doses of Narcan free-of-charge. This is an example of a key harm reduction strategy the organization employs.
Recently, NRVCS adjusted its tactics. The agency is now conducting drive-through trainings, an approach Wade called “somewhat innovative”—and so far, it has been pretty successful. More than 100 people have participated in the drive-through trainings.
“We know that overdose continues to be a real problem, and it’s actually increased this year,” Wade said. “We’re trying to make (Narcan) readily accessible.”
Finally, in the past couple months, NRVCS has added two facilities to its network of support locations. In October, the organization debuted a new residential facility in Fairlawn as part of its REACH (Regional Education Assessment Crisis Services Habilitation) program. The program, which is licensed by the Virginia Department of Health and Developmental Services, supports adults who have been diagnosed with developmental disabilities—which often co-occur with mental health issues and behavioral needs, Wade said.
The new facility, dubbed Tara Lane II, is adjacent to an existing NRVCS building for short-term residents who are in temporary crisis.
NRVCS also continues to make progress on its new crisis center in Radford, which is meant to serve folks in mental health crisis and to free up essential law enforcement resources. Currently, law enforcement officers who respond to someone in crisis must accompany that person through hospitalization. This process not only monopolizes the officer for several hours, it also sometimes requires traveling across the state to a hospital that can accommodate the person’s needs.
The new facility in Radford will provide a “warm, welcoming environment” for folks in crisis, Wade said, potentially prevent the need for hospitalization and minimize the “manpower, resources and mileage” required by the current system. Wade said several jurisdictions in the New River Valley are contributing a portion of their CARES Act funding to help support the new facility.
The local center will help law enforcement officers avoid long-term exposure to potentially infected people in mental health crisis. It will also free up essential space and resources at local hospitals. Both of these outcomes will help to mitigate the spread of coronavirus in the region.
Over and over again, Wade emphasized that the agency’s work is all about being proactive. “Often, people don’t want to talk about what we do until something goes wrong or someone feels there’s a need not being met,” he said. “We’re just trying to be proactive. Especially with the pandemic, a lot of these issues are becoming even more prevalent. You can wait, or jump in there and get something done, rather than waiting and dealing with the aftermath.”
If you’re experiencing a mental health crisis, you can reach NRVCS’ team of support counselors at (540) 961-8400. You can learn more about the organization’s work by visiting www.nrvcs.org. The Women’s Resource Center is located in Radford. Its crisis hotline is (540) 639-1123, and its website is wrnrv.org.