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WXXI, in partnership with public broadcasting stations across New York state, will air special programming examining the opioid crisis during the week of Oct. 15.New York’s Opioid Crisis is a first-of-its-kind partnership to draw attention to this public health crisis and raise awareness of services available in local communities for those affected by opioid addiction.Support for opioid crisis programming on WXXI is provided in part by the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services. A complete list of programs can be found here: WXXI.org/opioid-prog.We want to hear what you have to say about opioid and heroin use in our community. Please click on this link to take a short survey.

2 more addiction support services centers for Monroe County

There will soon be more help for people dealing with addiction on the east side of Monroe County. 

Gates to Recovery, which is a volunteer-run effort that has been in that town for the last few months, is getting ready to open two satellite centers, one at the Webster Community Center and the other in East Rochester.

Dave Attridge is executive director for RecoveryNowNY, which is the umbrella organization for these efforts. He says one of the main goals of the support services drop-in centers is to help connect people suffering from addictions with treatment.  But he says they also want to help the families of those dealing with addiction.

“(They have) a lot of questions, we help them out, let them know what’s going on and answer any questions for them, and then of course we just have a ton of resources, so anybody that’s just looking to educate themselves, they can come in and get that too,” Attridge told WXXI News.

Attridge says that obviously the need is great, so he expects to add even more of these drop-in centers in the coming months.

“In fact, we’re talking to a couple of other towns right now, so I do see it expanding. I’m probably looking at maybe another four by the time summer comes, but if we can get people into treatment, we can get them off the streets, why not, we’ll do whatever we gotta do.”

Patti Cataldi is deputy supervisor in Webster. She is glad there will be a new drop-in center available in her town. She says that first responders can deal with the immediate overdose situations, but after that point, referral and support services are needed for people facing addiction problem.

“They can administer Narcan, they can bring people to the hospital, but then what happens when they bring them back or when they’re discharged from the hospital, if there isn’t that quick path to any sort of rehabilitation services, then the chances of them being successful and quitting the addiction, it’s slim to none," Cataldi said.

The new drop-in facility at the Webster Community Center will open Tuesday, March 13, and then take place every second and fourth Tuesday of the month.  And starting on March 19, and continuing every third Tuesday of the month, the drop-in facility at the East Rochester Senior Center will be in operation. 

Both facilities will have hours of 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on the days that they are open.

We want to hear what you have to say about opioid and heroin use in our community. Please click on this linkto take a short survey.

Randy Gorbman is WXXI's director of news and public affairs. Randy manages the day-to-day operations of WXXI News on radio, television, and online.