BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB)- Parents and community leaders want a 24 hour center to open in Buffalo to help people battling addiction seek treatment.
“As a community we don’t have a choice, we have to do this,” said Mary Jo Alessio, a registered nurse.
She knows first-hand how devastating the opioid epidemic is in Western New York. Alessio lost her 21 year old son in 2005. She has another child struggling with addiction right now.
Alessio told News 4 that people seeking help are being turned away at hospitals.
“We need to have one place that we can refer people to that will have all of their needs met seamlessly,” said Alessio. “I think that’s the big issue.”
Save the Michaels of the World Founder, Avi Israel, is working to make that happen.
He is talking with state and county leaders to create a 24/7 center that would have about 20 trained recovery coaches and specialists to assess the individual struggling with addiction.
This would be the first center of its kind in Western New York, he said.
Israel wants to create a place where people can walk in and get help face-to-face.
“When a person is going through withdrawal, that’s when the person needs you the most and that’s when they’re vulnerable,” said Israel.
He’d like to see the center open at 291 Elm St. in Buffalo, where Horizon Health Services already offers a detox program.
“What we don’t want is for someone to walk into emergency rooms and just sit there for hours and then walk away,” said Israel. “We’re trying to eliminate that.”
The Erie County Department of Mental Health told News 4 it is helping to secure grant funding for the center and are optimistic about the County’s application. Commissioner Michael Ranney said the location still needs to be finalized but they support the idea of locating the center at 291 Elm St.
He released a statement to News 4 that said, in part, “A 24/7 drop-in center would be a welcome addition to the network of services currently available for individuals with opioid use disorder.”
Governor Cuomo announced earlier this month he will invest $200 million to combat the opioid epidemic, including funding 24/7 urgent access centers.
In a statement on Wednesday, OASAS told News 4 the state will put out a request for proposals in the coming weeks.
