Episode 90: Face Addiction Now

JUDGE LINDA DAVIS WITH FACE ADDICTION NOW ORGANIZATION: " RUN DRUGS OUT OF TOWN!"

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Light Up the D, focus on what's happening
in our community from the people who make it happen.
Here's your host, iHeartMedia Detroit Market President Colleen Grant.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Good morning and welcome to another episode of Light Up
the D. I'm your host, Colleen Grant. Our guest today
is Judge Linda Davis. Judge Davis was appointed to the
bench in two thousand by Michigan Governor John Engler. Prior
to her judge ship, Davis spent thirteen years as an
assistant prosecutor with the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office. She played

(00:37):
a crucial role in the inception of Face Addiction Now,
which we're discussing today, and has been instrumental in the
success and growth of the nonprofit discussing Face Addiction Now
and its services to help our community. Please join me
in welcoming Judge Linda Davis. Thanks for joining us. Judge Davis,
thanks for having me calling. So let's talk about Face
Addiction Now, which we call FAN, What inspired the creation

(00:59):
of it and what continues to drive its mission today.

Speaker 3 (01:01):
It's been around for over seventeen years. That long ago,
we had a couple of young people that passed away
from overdoses in our community, seventeen years of age. They
were both good students, nice kids, came from good families.
Not that that should matter, but that was the facts
of that case, and they died of heroin overdose. It

(01:23):
was something that we didn't see out in the suburbs
in our community.

Speaker 2 (01:27):
And it was alarming. And you were a judge at
this point. I was a judge at that point.

Speaker 3 (01:32):
We were also in court seeing a number of young
people coming in that were being affected by opioid medications
and were becoming addicted to them, and it just was
out of the norm.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
So we knew something was wrong. So you were sitting
on the bench and you're like, what the heck's going
on here? So you are watching, literally in real time
the increase in this episodic thing with heroin that you're
seeing is affecting particularly young people too.

Speaker 3 (02:00):
Yes, a lot of young people were facing addiction problems
because of wisdom teeth being pulled, sports injuries being for
these medications for any kind of pay, and also senior
citizens that were being overprescribed these medications as well.

Speaker 2 (02:17):
How did they end up in front of you as
a judge, Like, how does that.

Speaker 3 (02:20):
They would get charged with like simple possession cases or unfortunately,
being addicted to substances oftentimes leads you to creating minor
criminal cases robbery, theft. These are people that, absent their
drug addiction, would never ever be in the criminal justice system,
but because they get desperate for the drugs, they find

(02:43):
themselves stealing to support their habit, and so they would
get arrested for retail fraud, breaking and entering a motor vehicle.

Speaker 2 (02:51):
And it was just it was odd. So I just
started asking questions and it always ended.

Speaker 3 (02:56):
Up that they were addicted to either opioids or hair wow.

Speaker 2 (03:01):
And so what happened with how did it come to
where you were like, I need to create this organization? Well,
it wasn't just me that created it.

Speaker 3 (03:08):
I was living next door to two police officers at
the time, and they were constantly talking to me about
the number of overdoses they were going to and how
prevalent it was in the community, and that other officers
were starting to talk about it in their communities as well.
At the same time, I experienced my own family tragedy

(03:29):
after a medical condition. I had a daughter that became
addicted to those medications, and the next three years of
journey down that road was very difficult. So I really
wanted to be a part of the solution, and it
was difficult finding treatment in the state of Michigan, and
I really didn't even though I did it every day

(03:50):
as a living we were never given any training for it.
I just really wanted to educate myself and the community
about addiction, how it happens, what is caused by and
what you can do about it.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
Yeah, I think that's really interesting that you saw it
professionally happening, your neighbors saw it professionally happening, and then
it affected you personally to the point where you you know,
at that point in the whole opioid crisis, there really
weren't a lot of resources, no talk about like what
your experience was when you know you're experiencing the very

(04:24):
forefront of it and it's like there's no help out there.

Speaker 3 (04:26):
Well, as a judge, well, my daughter was young at
the time, so that made it even more difficult. But
I had lots of resources at my fingertips. I refer
people to treatment every single day, and so I started
calling all of those places that I thought would be
helpful and it was nothing but closed doors everywhere I went.
Not only was there no help available, but I was

(04:49):
treated rudely. Was told numerous times that morning that I
better brace myself.

Speaker 2 (04:54):
She was probably going to die.

Speaker 3 (04:56):
And by the time I got done trying to access
treatment for feeling pretty helpless and helpless and really full
of a lot of fear. And so she never did
go to the state of Michigan for treatment. She was
in several states seeking recovery. But fortunately for our family,
she was successful, really worked hard at it and is

(05:18):
celebrating many, many years of sobriety with two children and
one on the.

Speaker 2 (05:22):
Way as well. Congratulationally, so thank you, Oh my gosh.
So what makes FAN different in the things that you
provide for people facing addiction than other organizations? Because you
said you you know, you recognize that there were were
the closed doors and that there were things that just
were not going to be offered that people need.

Speaker 3 (05:39):
Well. Number One, acting accessing treatment is very difficult.

Speaker 2 (05:43):
I'm a judge. I find out of it so shocking, and.

Speaker 3 (05:47):
I could not figure out how to get my own
daughter help. And so I thought, how does someone suffering
from a brain disease ever figure this out. Sometimes you're
on the phone as long as two, three, four, six
hours at a time, and there's news days that you
have to wait to get placement into treatment. And so
what we did is we started helping people access treatment.

Speaker 2 (06:08):
We were kind of the go between.

Speaker 3 (06:10):
That explained the system, knew what information they needed, kind
of sat with them as they were going through this process,
which was really unique for us. I mean, our staff
is made up of about ninety eight percent of people
that have lived experience as either family members like myself
or are in recovery themselves. So when you call, you're

(06:32):
not just getting a worker, You're getting someone that really
understands the situation you are and how dire it is,
and it is going to be there to walk that
path with you. In addition to helping you access treatment,
we don't just get you into treatment and forget you.
We really have a continuum of care that lasts up
to a year for every participant and beyond if the

(06:53):
participant tells us they need that. That can include an
array of things, medically assistant treatment, outpatient treatment, a peer
recovery coach. We do yoga for recovery, lots of recovery
experiences for you. And then what is unique to us
is we also treat the family. We do family coaching

(07:14):
for individuals that are going through this with a loved one,
because unfortunately, no one gives you a manual on how
to navigate this.

Speaker 2 (07:22):
With someone that you love.

Speaker 3 (07:24):
And then we have a twelve step educational program called
Stronger Together that we encourage families to go through as well.

Speaker 2 (07:32):
When we talk about the organization's name is face Addiction.
Now what kind of addictions are we talking about? All
addictions that are substance related.

Speaker 3 (07:40):
We don't deal with gambling, although we will if you call,
we will help you find help, but we don't deal
with gambling or behavioral addictions like sexual addictions. But all
substances from alcohol through methamphetamine, a fit and all, whatever
it is that you're struggling with, we are there to help.

Speaker 2 (08:00):
And I thought it was interesting you said brain disease, Like,
I don't think a lot of people really realize what
happens to the brain. Can we talk a little bit
about that because I think I'm not a doctor, No no, no, no,
I know, but there's a stigma, you know, like people think, oh,
that person, like how did they end up like that?
They did that to themselves. But let's talk a little
bit about what the brain happens.

Speaker 3 (08:21):
Yeah, most people can use substances and not become addicted
to them. So there's a couple of things going on here.
Number one, the substances that people are using nowadays are
so much stronger than what they ever were when I
was a young kid. I mean drinking marijuana, some kids
did ecstasy, maybe a little lelessy, but those were things
you could venture away from the norm and come back

(08:42):
and live.

Speaker 2 (08:43):
Pretty productive life.

Speaker 3 (08:45):
But with opioid addiction, the drugs are so strong and
they really do to affect your brain chemistry, and so
once you're addicted to those things, it's really hard on
your own to just stop them and start living a normal,
productive life. You know, we hear all the time, I
didn't want to be living this lifestyle, but I couldn't

(09:06):
get out of it. I would try, and I would
get so sick because there's a really they say it's
like ten times the flu when you're trying to come
off of these drugs. It's really excruciating pain, and a
lot of people just keep using so that they don't
have to experience that pain.

Speaker 2 (09:23):
Wow, talk a little bit about like some of the
recent recent accomplishments or successes you have had that highlight
the impact that FAN is having. I know that you
have a very high success rate. Talk a little bit
about some of the things that you've seen most recently. Well.

Speaker 3 (09:40):
I think that one of the things that sets us
apart from a lot of other people that are doing
this work is our compassion for people that are going
through it. We hear that all the time from people
I've never been treated like I am. When I walk
through the doors of FAN, you become part of our family.
And that's almost a cliche that's used too much, but
it really is true in our case. Secondly, we partner

(10:03):
with one hundred and eighty five police departments across the
state of Michigan.

Speaker 2 (10:06):
It's hugely different it is.

Speaker 3 (10:09):
We really saw that if we were ever going to
get the root you mentioned stigma calling, if we're ever
going to get to the root of addiction, we need
to work with the people that our most stigma have
the most stigma, and that's police officers, judges, and er doctors.
Not because they're bad people, but because they see individuals
with substanitute disorder at their very worst, and it's sometimes

(10:29):
hard to see past the behavior and realize that underneath
that is another set of behaviors that that person once
existed with.

Speaker 2 (10:37):
So we really work.

Speaker 3 (10:38):
With the populations that have the most stigma, because if
we're ever going to change the stigma of addiction, we
really need to get those people seeing this as a
disease and.

Speaker 2 (10:49):
Not a moral failing.

Speaker 3 (10:50):
Unfortunately, the media did a really good job of portraying
only the negatives around addiction. I was absolutely convinced that
people could not get well from heroin use, and we
see it every day that they can. It's just getting
the right treatment protocols together. It's a lot like cancer.
You know, some people can can fight cancer with diet.

(11:12):
Other people need surgery, radiation and they still don't beat it.
And if we start looking at addiction that way, that
there's lots of different protocols and it's finding the one
that fits that individual and is going to work for them.

Speaker 2 (11:26):
So if somebody's listening right now and they're like, hey,
I need to get in touch with face addiction, now,
how would they do that?

Speaker 3 (11:33):
They can just call our hopeline and you can go
to families against I'm sorry, Face Addiction Now dot org
and it'll take you right to our Hope line. You
call and there'll be a warm person on the other
end of that that will walk you through the process
and make sure that you get access to the services
that are unique for you.

Speaker 2 (11:53):
Now, you had said one hundred and eighty five police departments.
You have relationships throughout the community with a lot of
local partners to strengthen your impact. Can you talk a
little bit more about your relationships.

Speaker 3 (12:03):
We also work with twenty three hospital systems in the
state of Michigan, where they call us when someone comes
in with an overdose and we dispatch someone to the hospital,
or we can do it right by phone while they're
they're in bed. We provide transportation to treatment after that
and then get them set up with an array of
services that will ensure long term recovery. But we also

(12:27):
partner with a lot of treatment facilities. We have a
lot of community partners, literally pages of them. In our
annual report, you can see the list of people that
we work with and support doing this work. Treatment facilities, counselors, psychiatrists.
It takes an army to deal with addiction, and so

(12:48):
we try to equip ourselves with the resources we know
to be able to do this effectively.

Speaker 2 (12:54):
I love the in particular of the twenty three hospitals
that they call you to be involved, because it's not
like they just treat the individual and then send them
on their way. They're also thinking about how do we
keep them on the path of not ending up back
here as well.

Speaker 3 (13:06):
Right in emergency rooms, they're stabilize you and move you
on your way. But with addiction, you don't get stabilized
in a day or two. You're more vulnerable when you
come out. And so I think that the medical profession
is realized there needs to be a better solution to this. Unfortunately,
they can't do that work in the er because they
don't have them long enough. So partnering with community organizations

(13:30):
like ours that will provide that one on one kind
of case management as they exit the hospitals is really important.

Speaker 2 (13:39):
What are some of the misconceptions people have about those
in the community that have substance use disorder.

Speaker 3 (13:45):
That they can't be rehabilitated, that they're dangerous, that you
shouldn't let them into your house, That if they're dating
your daughter, that's a horrible thing, or vice versa. People
with addictions are as normal as you and I are.
It's just that substances affected their mind differently, but they
can heal from that. It takes about a year for

(14:07):
your brain to begin healing from severe drug use, obviously,
and up to two years for it to fully heal.

Speaker 2 (14:15):
But the good.

Speaker 3 (14:15):
News is that it can heal, and as long as
you're connected with the right services, you can learn live
really long, productive lives.

Speaker 2 (14:24):
That's that's interesting information to me, that it takes a
year to heal in two years to fully heal.

Speaker 3 (14:29):
Right, And I think a lot of the stigma comes
from people have family members that it's just that vicious
cycle of in treatment, out of treatment, in treatment, out
of treatment, and so we think they can't get well.
But it's not that person that can't get well. It's
that the system fails them because we don't have a
system of care set up that stays long term with

(14:49):
that individual like we do with every other disease, you know,
and we do with every other disease.

Speaker 2 (14:55):
So once we.

Speaker 3 (14:55):
Start treating this like a disease, I think we'll start
seeing remarkable results.

Speaker 2 (15:00):
So I think that's a really interesting point too. I mean,
I've heard of many, you know, I think so many
of us have relationships with people who either have an
alcohol addiction or a drug addiction, and you hear about
this person went into this treatment center for two or
three weeks and then they came out and then like
four weeks later, they're, you know, back in their cycle.

(15:21):
Like you had mentioned, what is it about your organization
that keeps that relationship for longer that helps you have
the success that you're able to achieve.

Speaker 3 (15:29):
So once we get them placed into in treatment facilities,
and there's a lot of really good ones, and that's
the start point, that's what people need to know. I
know when I was going through this, I thought, boy,
you go to treatment for thirty days, you come out
and you're strong and you can do this. That's where
the misconception comes in. So we have a peer recovery
coach that contacts them while they're at their treatment facility.

Speaker 2 (15:51):
They literally meet them.

Speaker 3 (15:53):
The day that they get out of that facility, we
get them hooked up with outpatient services. It may be
that the treatment facility got them on medically assisted treatment.
We make sure they can get to their next appointment.
We set up a whole system of care around that
individual so that they feel supported as they come out.

Speaker 2 (16:11):
If they don't have stable.

Speaker 3 (16:13):
Housing, or if the housing is just someplace that they
don't feel like they're going to be able to maintain
sobriety there, that maybe their parents don't understand addiction and
it's tough for them to be there, not that they're
bad parents, but just don't understand what they're dealing with.
We'll get them into transitional housing, help pay for the
first couple of weeks of that so that they can

(16:34):
be successful in that journey. If they don't have a job,
we help them find a job. We try to remove
all the barriers that might lead somebody back to addiction again.
And then, like I said that peer recovery coaches having
constant contact with them. If they're still struggling with that
level of care, we'll have a case managem or that
manager get a hold of them that will have daily

(16:56):
contact with them.

Speaker 2 (16:57):
And you mentioned you know there might be some issues
within the family as well, but you have family coaching. Yes,
Can you talk a little bit about that too, because
there's so much of not understanding what to do or
how to handle it, or how you're actually helping someone
or maybe not helping them that you really can provide

(17:18):
to a family as well. Right, I was a perfect
example of that.

Speaker 3 (17:21):
I almost say I almost love my daughter to death
because I didn't understand addiction and I didn't know what
I was doing that got in the way of a recovery.
And so we really try to give families the tools
they need to not and I hate the word enable
because it sounds blaming somehow, but parents, as normal parents
are nurturing. That's what we do is we take care

(17:42):
of our children. We try to remove roadblocks, form we
try to encourage them, be supportive.

Speaker 2 (17:48):
And do all of those things.

Speaker 3 (17:50):
Well, sometimes you can cross the line where it becomes
too much for someone with an addiction and you're easily
to be easily manipulated and can actually encourage you instead
of recovery. So I was really fortunate in other states,
I went through family programs that really turned a light
bulb on for me and saw that there was a

(18:10):
different way to love a child.

Speaker 2 (18:12):
And it doesn't mean that you stop loving your child.

Speaker 3 (18:15):
It never means that you stop supporting them, because the
statistics are horrible if you don't have family support, but
really knowing how to do that in a productive, helpful
way rather than getting in the way of recovery.

Speaker 2 (18:28):
Right. And it's probably some of the things that they
that a person might learn are probably surprising that they think, Oh,
I thought I was helping.

Speaker 3 (18:36):
Yeah, just how to have conversations. Even you know, we
somehow feel like their behavior is being done to us,
and when we really learn about it being a disease,
we go through an addiction one on one with all
family members so that they understand that this isn't something
their child wants to be doing to them. Most kids
hate that they're putting their parents through this. They just

(18:58):
don't know how to stop and don't have the tools
to get out of it. And so it's really teaching
them how to have conversation that's not blaming, shaming, arguing
with them, and really giving them a different language to
talk to their family member with.

Speaker 2 (19:13):
If somebody needs those resources, where can they find them again?
Please face addiction now dot org. Face addiction noow dot org.
So I've been to your event in the fall. I
love it. I've said it before, we've talked before, and
one of the most meaningful We're going to talk about
that event because one of the most meaningful things that happened.
First of all, it was an enormous volume of people

(19:34):
who have supported you because so many people have relationships
with people who have substance abuse disorder. And I remember
the thing that always touches me is I'm sitting at
the table and they're like, stand up, if you've had
somebody you know in your life who's had substance abuse,
And like, the whole place ends up standing up, and

(19:55):
by the end it's you know, if you've had somebody
who's passed away from it, and you know, virtually everybody's
standing at that point, and it's literally heart wrenching, but
it makes you realize you're not alone, right, you are
not alone. There are so many people going through this,
and the fact that they're such a good resource available
to you, you know, with face addiction. Now, tell us

(20:16):
a little bit about that event in the fall.

Speaker 3 (20:18):
Well, it's really great because we're kind of based on
the premise of we have to start having conversations about this.

Speaker 2 (20:24):
We can't. It's a disease.

Speaker 3 (20:26):
We're not afraid to tell people our child has cancer,
We're not afraid to tell them they have diabetes. Until
we start talking about this disease openly, we don't ever
find answers and resolve for it, and we actually impede
the healing process because it's an Actually keeping a secret
makes that person feel like there's something wrong with them, right,

(20:47):
So I think it's really important that we just start
having honest dialogue like you and I are having right now,
and taking away the shame of addiction and helping people
through that process and understanding. So that's one of the
big things that FAN is founded on, is real people
telling real stories. So come out to an event, not
necessarily even the fall Fest, but we do share a

(21:09):
lot there. Our events are always obviously a fundraiser is
to raise money, but we've always kind of had the
motto of its education first and money second. And so
you don't walk away not feeling like you came and
that it was a valuable night, that you learned something
while you were there. And like you said, it's heart wrenching,
but it's there's also an element to it because we

(21:32):
do all three. We talk about people who have lost,
we talk about people who are still struggling, but we
also really celebrate those that are in recovery.

Speaker 2 (21:40):
You really did, I mean, it was like, uh, I don't.
I it was it like you acknowledge the people who
were in the process of getting to so many years,
and it was like like you couldn't be so inspired
by their journey because they were doing it, you know,
and you guys were celebrating them and lifting them up,
and the whole room was so excited for their success
full journey towards health and recovery. Right.

Speaker 3 (22:03):
I don't think you can ever come to one of
our events and walk away feeling like people are suffering
from a moral failing. I think you walk away really
believing that this is a disease and we need to
do all we can to help these people.

Speaker 2 (22:18):
Yeah. Yeah, and just seeing the success of what's happening
with them, it's really inspiring, it really is. So that's
in November, right, that's in oct October. I'm Somber seventh.
Suber seventh, Okay, October seventh. Face Addiction Now dot org
for more information on that event. What are some of
Facediction Now's biggest goals for the future.

Speaker 3 (22:38):
Well, there's a lot of rural areas that really are
lacking with services, So our goal this year is to
spread more to the Upper Peninsula we've already started that movement.
We have five chapters in the up, but we really
want to make them stronger as chapters and be able
to provide the support that we supply down here to

(22:59):
individuals that are going through this journey and also the
west side of the state. You know, we don't have
a big presence. We have a presence, but not as
big as it is in Southeast Michigan. So just really
making sure that we kind of fill the gaps throughout
the state. Obviously, increase the number of police departments that
we're working with, and we're always striving to do better.

Speaker 2 (23:20):
We collect a lot of data.

Speaker 3 (23:21):
We're always studying that data, and if we're doing something
that doesn't seem to be working, we shift and try
something new. So we're always moving and trying to perfect
what we're doing and really provide the best care that
we can for individuals to ensure their success for long
term recovery.

Speaker 2 (23:37):
Can people volunteer?

Speaker 3 (23:39):
Oh yes, all about that permute. There's lots of volunteer
opportunities right now. We have a big run coming up
this coming Saturday, and it literally takes hundreds of volunteers
and there's still room for more volunteers. You can go
right on our website and it'll say a volunteer link
and you can sign up to do whatever it is
that you're comfortable. But we also get a lot of

(24:01):
professionals that are beginning to volunteer with us to do
things like marketing, those kind of things that may not
be in our wheelhouse, but that we certainly could use
help with fundraising, that kind of thing.

Speaker 2 (24:14):
So that we're always.

Speaker 3 (24:15):
Looking for people with special skills, computer skills that can
just help us get to the next level.

Speaker 2 (24:22):
Okay, all right, great, and you can find more about
that at Facedediction noow dot org as well. Yes, okay,
how do you envision the organization evolving to meet new
challenges in the addiction recovery space and what are those challenges?

Speaker 3 (24:36):
Well, I think that we still have a real deficit
and available beds that are available in the community for
people with addiction. So I think it's just continuously educating
the community about the needs and really working with We've
worked with a lot of legislators and the Michigan Department

(24:56):
of Health and Human Services to really identify the game
and the barriers that exist and to improve those systems.
We have a really broken system of care in the
state of Michigan. But there are some movements right now
that Van has been involved with to move the needle
on those and provide better care for individuals that is

(25:17):
easier to access in the future.

Speaker 2 (25:20):
And before we were had started the interview, we were
talking about the numbers of people who are affected by
substance abuse and that sounds like that hasn't necessarily reduced
been in reduction phase. Correct.

Speaker 3 (25:33):
I don't think the number of people that are using
substances has reduced. We have some pretty remarkable statistics showing
that the death rate is going on, but it's scarcely down.
Yes that I'm sorry, Yes I misspoke that that's going down,
But I don't want people to think that the world
of addiction is changing much. It's just that we're much

(25:55):
better with getting a life saving drug called narcan into
the hands of people that may be using drugs that
could overdose, and they are being able to administer that
at home. Our agency is one of the top people
for giving out in our can for free, so we're
doing a really good job of getting it in the
hands of the people that need it. But that doesn't

(26:17):
mean that they're still not addicted to substances, So we
can't drop the ball on that end of it. As
providing the surfaces after someone gets narcanned right to help.

Speaker 2 (26:27):
Them actually get through recovery, which sounds like it takes
years literally of effort and devotion to these lifetime actually
a lifetime right. What partnerships are community efforts? Would you
like to expand upon your doing so much with so
many different organizations already? Are there other ones out there
that you're looking to forge?

Speaker 3 (26:47):
Yeah, We're always willing to partner with other agencies. I
think if we pool our resources, we can accommodate more people.
And we have really good partnerships like in Bay County
Bay County Region, we have incredible partnerships there with the
Health Department, with other agencies that work harm reduction agencies

(27:08):
that were really support one another in this effort, and
I really that really allows us to make our dollars
stretch even further.

Speaker 2 (27:18):
How did you end up like what motivated you take
to take up a leadership role in this.

Speaker 3 (27:23):
Well, I was doing it as a volunteer for twelve years.
I always say that for twelve years I had pretty
much two full time jobs I was at a breakfast, lunch,
or dinner almost every single night of the year when
we were trying to get this up and running. We
were fortunate enough to get state funding about five years
ago and a leadership position opened. I felt like I

(27:45):
was somewhat responsible for the growth of the organization. Having
judge in front of your name opens up a lot
of doors there otherwise wouldn't be open. If I was
just an average person, I wouldn't be able to make
those contacts. So I saw that I had the ability
to take my education and who I was in our
community and really do something special with it, and so

(28:08):
I jumped at the opportunity when it became available.

Speaker 2 (28:12):
And what would you say is the most rewarding aspect
of your work.

Speaker 3 (28:16):
Just seeing people get well, You know, people that felt
so hopeless and helpless, and you see them a year
later and their living productive lives. And it's hard for
me to go to a grocery store and not have
somebody come up and thank me for their recovery.

Speaker 2 (28:30):
So it's really an amazing thing.

Speaker 3 (28:32):
But we've touched hundreds of thousands of people in the
state of Michigan, and it's just so rewarding. To see
people get well.

Speaker 2 (28:41):
Hundreds of thousands. Wow. What do you see the future
of what you're doing?

Speaker 3 (28:47):
Well, Unfortunately, I don't think addiction is going to go away.
We live in a really sad state of affairs in
our country right now. There's a lot of pressure on
young people's social med those kind of things.

Speaker 2 (29:01):
So I don't think addiction is going to go away.

Speaker 3 (29:04):
I think it's mainly educating people to get the help
they need when it does hit them or their families
and not be ashamed of it. So I'm hoping that
treatment in the state of Michigan is going to improve
in the near future, that more facilities will start coming
to the state and offering services here, and that we

(29:26):
really provide almost a recovery state because we've been so
devastated by it in the past.

Speaker 2 (29:31):
Wow. And speaking of families, what message would you give
families who are really battling either themselves substance abuse or
a member of their family being affected by addiction. Yeah,
just don't give up, you know.

Speaker 3 (29:45):
I mean there's a lot of negative out in the
world that tells you that you can't make it. And
the world is changing, especially around addiction, where people are
beginning Almost everybody knows somebody now that's been affected because
of the opiate crisis.

Speaker 2 (30:00):
Reach out and ask for help.

Speaker 3 (30:01):
You can't get well if you don't make that first call.
We're glad that we help people all over the state
of Michigan. It doesn't matter who you are, what insurance
you have, you can call us and we will begin
that journey with you and do our best to make
sure that you are on the road to recovery.

Speaker 2 (30:17):
That's a great point. Costs, you know, the cost of addiction.
People like I we were saying earlier, going in and
out of facilities, you know, and you just said you
don't have to have insurance to get help with you, right.

Speaker 3 (30:29):
Yeah, there's a lot of facilities that work with us
that for uninsured people or people on Medicare, so and
we stay with you until we find an appropriate one.

Speaker 2 (30:39):
It's rare.

Speaker 3 (30:40):
I'm not going to say it never happens, but it's
rare that we can't find a placement for you that
meets your particular needs. And then we're not just going
to leave it there. We're going to make sure that
even if we don't get you into treatment right away,
that you have all those wrap around services that kind
of keep you safe until we can access something for you.

Speaker 2 (31:00):
Just so everybody has it once again, what is the web.

Speaker 3 (31:02):
Address face addictionnow dot org, Faceediction noow dot org.

Speaker 2 (31:08):
Our guest today has been Judge Linda Davis. She's the
executive director of Face Addiction Now. Thank you for joining us,
Judge Davis, Thank you so much for having me. Kelleen.

Speaker 1 (31:17):
This has been Light Up the D, a community affairs
program from iHeartMedia Detroit. If your organization would like to
get on the program, email Colleen Grant at iHeartMedia dot com.
Here are all episodes on this station's podcast page.