Thanks largely to the efforts of William “Boogie” Short, the community is becoming increasingly aware of the damage opioids and other narcotics are having on the more vulnerable members of Anson society through his monthly Community Awareness for Addiction and Recovery meetings.
WADESBORO — Thanks largely to the efforts of one local man, William “Boogie” Short, the community is becoming increasingly more aware of the damage opioids and other narcotics are causing the more vulnerable members of Anson society through his monthly Community Awareness for Addiction and Recovery meetings. Short’s group meets on the fourth Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m. Formerly, the group met at the AA building on Country Club Road, but thanks to strides made by Short, and his partner on the Opioid Fund Committee, Theresa Cochran, the Community Awareness for Addiction and Recovery will begin meeting in the Community Room at Anson Atrium moving forward.
Short says, “The stigma of the AA building keeps a lot of people from coming. I want to separate myself from that so people understand it is more about community awareness. But we do also want to support and encourage all those who are currently in recovery or thinking about recovery.” He added, “The only way we are going to change minds in the community is if everyone gets involved.”
Tuesday the group met for the first time inside a packed Community Room at Anson Atrium. Guest speakers included Theresa Cochran, William “Boogie” Short, Dr. Afrayem Morgan with Atrium Health Addictions Services Ballantyne and members of the Atrium Health Anson’s School-Based Virtual Health Care Program.
According to members with the school-based virtual program, their first step is called the Intake Process, through which they attempt to learn everything that is going on with the individual; from health concerns to how they feel daily. They caution there is no magic wand to wave when it comes to solving problems, but they can teach individuals how to handle the problem they are facing.
The program also assists with medication management, food and clothing resources, and even furniture when needed. Another benefit of the service is being able to get a child healthcare within two weeks to a month of requesting it. While therapists do not share everything the child discusses within the program with their parents, therapists do sit down and meet with parents once a month to discuss their child’s progress.
Dr. Morgan, whose background is in psychiatry, prefers to focus on addiction and recovery. He has worked with Atrium Health Addictions services for many years now and considers his clinic to be a low threshold or harm reduction clinic.
“We are not a suboxone or methadone clinic. My goal is to keep abusers happy, healthy and alive so they can reach a point where they feel they can move forward on their own.”
Ideally, Dr. Morgan would prefer to not see any of his patients longer than a year.
He explained, “As long as you keep coming back, we want to work with you. I want to see my patients get off medications- not every illness or condition needs to be medicated.”
Dr. Morgan says the detox process usually takes anywhere from 72 hours to 5 days to fully complete. “It’s a process,” he cautions. “You have to really be ready for it.”
He says Mercy Hospital in Charlotte offers 11 beds in their detox unit. The detox process is individualized and tailored to meet abusers where they are.
“It truly is an individualized care plan. What that looks like is we ask questions like; how long do you feel you need to be here? What does your lab work look like? What kind of medications are you on or need during this process?”
Detox programs are available at five Atrium health locations: Uptown Charlotte, Mercy Hospital, Cabarrus Hospital, Stanly and Pineville. Efforts are currently underway to expand Atrium’s detox program, possibly bringing it to Anson Atrium.
