A new initiative is looking to give hope and healing to those dealing with addiction and who don’t know where to turn for help.
West Bloomfield Fire Department is partnering with Family Against Narcotics (FAN) to launch a new program at six of its stations that will connect people to treatment for their drug or alcohol addiction.
Hope and Healing initiative is similar to the Hope Not Handcuffs program, but instead of working with police departments, there’s a public health approach.
“Is it a significant problem here (West Bloomfield),” said Dave Deboer, deputy fire marshal for West Bloomfield Fire Department. “Not significant, but is it killing people? Yes. If it kills one person, that’s one too many.”
That is why he believes partnering with FAN will make a difference.
“We can we get calls from time to time when somebody calls 911 and says, ‘I need to get to rehab,’ but EMS units can only transport people to an emergency room,” Deboer said.
The new program allows people to walk into a participating fire department and seek help with their addiction. Staff will reach out to FAN’s Angels, who are trained volunteers. EMTs and paramedics can also recommend the FAN programming.
“We’ll take the wheel over and do our intake process,” said program director Kim Baffo. “We’ll send Uber or Lyft right to the home, and they’ll be on their way to treatment. If they do go to the hospital, the hospital is also aware and part of the Hope and Healing to connect that dot, and we will do it right from the emergency room if they need medical clearance.”
Through grants, FAN will cover the cost of the treatment and connect that person to peer recovery coaches, people who have been through the same thing and are in long-term recovery.
The hope is to tackle the stigma of addiction and treat it as the disease it is.
“We know for a fact when somebody decides to get clean, the time between them making that decision and getting them in rehab, the shorter that time, the better their success,” said Deboer. “So, we want to stop any delays there.”
“We tried to arrest our way out of the problem, and it hasn’t worked,” Baffo said. “We all need to come together and combat this together as a whole community. Again, I can’t do it myself; the police departments, the fire department, if we bridge all of these gaps, we’ll have less people dying.”
The program is now in West Bloomfield and Southfield fire departments. You don’t have to go to the fire department to get started; you can also call 833-202-HOPE (4673).