Heidi Gerard
Treating addiction is hard, but as someone in recovery and currently supporting mothers in their own recovery, one thing is very simple: we need to invest more in solutions that work.
Every person in recovery has their own story.
My grandmother was an American missionary who rescued my mother when she was an orphan in Iran, adopted her, and supported us financially. After she passed away, life became more difficult.
We moved from our affluent Maryland neighborhood to rural South Dakota, where my mother was a certified music teacher and the cost of living was low, but as a brown, new girl and daughter of immigrants, it was hard to navigate life differently.
Whenever something went wrong in that closed community school, it was almost always my fault. The bullying and harassment was constant and horrific. And when my mother sent me to live with other parents in northern Nebraska to escape the treatment, I was sexually abused and joined a drug-using ring.
By the time I returned to Maryland, the damage was already done: I became pregnant, began using drugs, and watched the father of my child die of an overdose.
I got sober, rebuilt my life, and was a happy, successful elementary school teacher. I struggled with relapse after getting back together with my ex-boyfriend from when he was using drugs. He ended up in prison for drug dealing. But I eventually found Narcotics Anonymous, got sober again, and tried to help him. We even got married while he was in prison.
In the end, I couldn’t save him, but I learned a lot about the prison system, the extreme difficulties people with addictions face returning to prison, and recovery. I realized my mission was to help those who needed it most: mothers returning from prison with substance abuse disorders.
I currently run a non-profit that focuses on mothers and children who need help with addiction-related issues, whether that be finding housing, escaping domestic violence, getting out of jail, regaining custody, etc. We provide comprehensive services so the whole family is treated, not just one symptom.
While there is some funding from the government, it is woefully small compared to the demand: Nationwide, about 2.5 million people over the age of 18 suffer from opioid abuse disorder in 2021, and nearly 300 people die from overdoses every day. Yet only 36% of those who experience addiction receive any kind of treatment.
Medication-based treatment is even rarer: only 22% receive treatment, most of whom are urban, white men over the age of 35. These disparities must be closed.
The opioid crisis is a public health crisis and should be treated as such, with all branches of government fully investing in evidence-based prevention, treatment and recovery efforts. We need an integrated, systemic whole-of-government approach that combines treatment services with good science and consciously seeks to correct flaws in our health care, justice, education and social welfare systems.
This is not my diagnosis. This is a recommendation from the National Institutes of Health, our federal agency.
The problem is widespread, the gender and racial disparities in treatment are stark, and the consequences of inaction are dire. But the good news is that the evidence is overwhelming that what works. Our nation's addiction program needs real investment, including in centers like mine, to give families the best chance possible to succeed.
Heidi Gerard is the founder and executive director of ChrysantheMoms, Inc., a nonprofit organization providing comprehensive housing and supportive services to women and children struggling with addiction.
