From left, Charlene Eckert, who runs a family support group called Hope for Broken Hearts, Corey Williford of the Institute for Nonprofit Leadership in Slippery Rock and Jackie Bishop, a social worker with the North Allegheny School District, attend a workshop at the second annual “Discover Recovery” community forum hosted by the Ellen O’Brien Gaiser Center and Butler County Community College in the college's Founder's Hall on Monday, Jan. 8, 2024. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

According to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from 2021, 46.3 million people aged 12 or older (or 16.5% of the population) met criteria for having a substance use disorder in the past year.

A depressing 94% of those 46.3 million people did not receive any treatment. Nearly all people with a substance use disorder who did not get treatment at a specialty facility did not think they needed treatment.

Those numbers cannot be encouraging to the Ellen O’Brien Gaiser Center, but they can be cause for a wake-up call.

In Tuesday’s Eagle, staff writers Molly Miller and Irina Bucur told us about the center’s Discover Recovery event, which was held at Butler County Community College.

The event, in its second year, focused on the role of family in addiction recovery. Panelists included family members of people who struggled with addiction. There also was discussion on how to love and support someone struggling.

“Their stories help all of us,” said Dr. C. Thomas Brophy, Gaiser Center’s medical director, as he introduced the speakers Monday. “(Stories) help everybody not just relate, but maybe even understand what they need to do at home within their own families.”

The Gaiser Center has offered family-centered addiction recovery services in Butler County since 1971. They are surely aware of the grim HHS statistics above.

Battling on against substance use disorders is the best any treatment center can do. Through education and outreach, more people become aware of options for help for themselves or their loved ones.

“Our hope is that maybe someone in our audience will hear a story they will resonate with,” said Joe Mahoney, executive director of the Gaiser Center.

Across our county, state and nation, elected officials and agencies are battling against substance abuse in ways big and small. With the introduction of new drugs and improvements in drug treatments, the landscape of the battle keeps changing. But the Gaiser Center battles on.

We applaud the center for their relentless march to help those wrestling with substance use disorders, and look forward to a day when their services are no longer necessary.

— RJ