MOREHEAD, Ky. (LEX 18) — Addiction Recovery Care, or ARC, met at a church in Morehead to record stories of addiction journeys to help inspire others. Vice president of marketing, Vanessa Keeton says this is a busier time of year for ARC as more people make recovery a New Year's resolution.
She explains, "No matter what time of the year it is, today is the day for you to enter into recovery because you may not have another day to attempt to enter into recovery. That's just the harsh truth about the drugs that are out there today -- they're killing people more readily now than they ever have before."
Every month ARC takes around 4,800 calls on average. In January 2023, they took nearly 5,300 calls. This January, they're expecting the same increase in call volume. In 2022, Team Kentucky's Justice and Public Safety Cabinet reported that there were 2,135 overdose deaths in the state. That's down 5% from the year before.
Keeton says, "The great thing about Kentucky is that we have more treatment beds per capita, than any other state in the entire nation. So, if you want help, you can get help today. We have community liaisons out in the community every single day of the week who are out there talking to people, talking to referral sources, letting them know that we're here to help you."
ARC offers in-patient and out-patient care programs and options online. It also offers education and job-training skills. Around half of its employees are in recovery themselves. Keeton explains that she was the program's first client when ARC opened in 2010.
She says, "It's been an exciting journey so far and I feel like when you are in recovery, and people know your life and they knew you before or they even hear your story about how things were before they can relate to that."
She says it's important for clients to work with people who know what they're experiencing and for them to see what's possible. She says that she knows that this can be a big step for some and a commitment that people may be on the fence about. Her advice is to keep moving forward.
"Do it anyway. You know it is so worth it, I don't care if it's your first time or your 20th time. Do it again because you do have a chance to have a good life. You know you were meant to have a good life and we all were. And so, I would just say no matter what go for it,” says Keeton.
You can get more information about ARC's programs by visiting them online at www.ARCcenters.com. They say it's always a good time to get help and start a recovery journey.
