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Pillars4Hope outlines expansion needs, MAT services and opioid-remediation work to Colleton County Council
Summary
Pillars4Hope presented its services (outpatient, IOP, MAT, peer support, prevention), reported increases in Narcan and fentanyl-test-strip distribution, cited capacity/staffing and facility/parking needs, and requested county support for outreach and infrastructure.
Pillars4Hope (Colleton County Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse) presented a detailed overview of services and community needs to Colleton County Council on June 7.
Executive Director Nikeyia (also spelled Nikeyia/Nikeyla in materials) Hammonds summarized that Pillars4Hope is CARF-accredited, DHEC-licensed, and provides adult and adolescent outpatient and intensive outpatient treatment, medically assisted treatment (MAT), peer support, prevention programming, and offender-based interventions. She said the agency served 847 people across Colleton County and surrounding areas in the prior three fiscal years and reported 233 successful discharges over that period in the material distributed to council.
Pillars4Hope described several harm-reduction and opioid-remediation activities including expanded Narcan (naloxone) distribution, community “harm-reduction bags” that included fentanyl test strips, partnerships with Carolina Medical Center and local prescribers to provide MAT vouchers, and community education events. Materials state distribution of Narcan rose roughly 206% year-over-year and fentanyl-test-strip distribution rose 216% for the current fiscal year compared with the prior year (figures provided in agency materials submitted to council).
The presenters asked for county assistance on infrastructure and operational needs: improved parking at their Thunderbolt Drive facility, sewer/pipe upgrades, outreach staff, additional peer-support staffing (including placement of a peer-support specialist in the local hospital), and space for expanded women’s IOP and potential residential services. The agency said it does not turn away patients for inability to pay and that their MAT program partners with a local doctor to provide vouchers for clinic visits and medications as long as patients remain compliant.
Council members thanked the presenters and acknowledged the agency’s community role; the meeting record shows no formal county commitment but lists executive-session discussion of opioid litigation and Project Waterfall separately.
