Lexington City commissioners hear presentations on recovery services, plan Overdose Awareness Day outreach

At a recent Lexington City commission meeting, local recovery-service providers described ongoing treatment and support programs and promoted an Aug. 31 Overdose Awareness Day event; commissioners approved routine agenda items and adjourned.

The presentations matter because they outline how local providers, volunteers and grant-funded programs are coordinating post-treatment support — a period providers said is critical to preventing relapse — and they publicized a free, vendor-supported community event that officials said aims to reach people and families affected by substance use disorder.

Champion Therapy Center, represented by Daisy, described a multi-faceted approach the center uses to support people with substance use and mental-health needs. Daisy said the center has provided “over 14,000 appointments” since its 2019 start and that about “1,300 people call in for services.” She told commissioners the center offers individual, group and family counseling, trauma-informed, evidence-based approaches and targeted case management seven days a week and accepts commercial insurance, Medicaid and Medicare. Daisy said staff help arrange short- and long-term treatment, connect clients to medication-assisted treatment options such as Suboxone or methadone, and provide post-treatment supports such as bus passes, grocery cards and clothing through a nonprofit affiliated with the center.

“We're treating a whole family, a whole household, a whole generation,” Daisy said, describing the center’s family-centered approach and its emphasis on case management and community connections to help people remain in recovery.

Separately, Shashi of Grin Grama, Inc., described programs aimed at people in long-term recovery, including Recovery Glue (an intensive outpatient/in-person online program) and a dental-restoration initiative the group said is targeted to alumni of recovery programs. Shashi said a pilot of four dental implants failed and that the group has since sought partnerships to create a teaching clinic and specialized training. She said Delta Dental and the American Academy of Implantology are among partners, and that the group received an opioid abatement grant last year to support services.

Shashi described the dental work as part of “restor[ation]” for people in recovery and said the effort includes case management to ensure clients follow treatment plans. She also said an attempt to sustain the model through Medicaid billing did not meet the program’s needs because billable structures did not allow the level of oversight the program requires.

Commission staff and presenters also promoted a local Overdose Awareness Day event scheduled for Aug. 31. According to the presentation, the event will begin at DV8 in the East End and move to the Fifth Third Tandy Park Pavilion on Main Street; vendor booths are free and organizations can sign up through the LFUCG substance use program website. Organizers said the event will include educational booths along a mapped route with a vendor-stamp activity and free lunch for participants.

Commissioners and attendees offered brief comments of thanks and personal testimony about family impacts during and after the presentations; there was no substantive policy change or vote tied to the presentations. The meeting otherwise proceeded through routine business and closed after a motion to adjourn.

Votes at a glance: - Approve agenda — Moved: Dale Sanders; Second: Connie Veil; Outcome: approved (voice vote: “Aye”). - Approve minutes from July 11 meeting — Moved: Saint Angela Evans; Second: Mark Woods; Outcome: approved (voice vote: “Aye”). - Adjourn — Mover: not specified in transcript; Second: Biscano; Outcome: approved (voice vote: “Aye”).

The presentations and event notices were intended as information for commissioners and the public; presenters asked for continued community and interagency collaboration rather than requesting an immediate formal action.