SYDNEY SCHAEFER/NNY BUSINESS
aylour Scanlin, Foundation & Marketing Executive Director, and Carthage Area Hospital CEO, Richard Duvall.
Expansion Project Blueprints Brought to Life
January 24, 2019 by
The Effects of the Opioid Crisis in NNY
December 15, 2018 by
Bob Gorman
I have never been addicted to alcohol, drugs or gambling.
(I have also never been addicted to housekeeping, food preparation or lawn care, but I digress…)
And there you have it: flippancy. It comes easily if you’ve never carried an addiction monkey on your back. You can’t understand what it is like to live every waking moment with an out-of-control desire to find pleasure in something that can kill everything you know: your family relationships, your career and eventually yourself.
So you can only try to relate to the statistics.
The cost of the opioid crisis is producing crazy numbers. Last year the U.S. reported 71,568 overdose deaths, around 196 a day. When factoring in the cost of treatment of the addicted and their inability to produce income and pay taxes, the federal Council of Economic Advisers reports that the nation’s economy lost $504 billion in 2015 alone.
Whether you want the government to spend more money on free tuition or building a border wall, those numbers should be making us all pause together to consider what the United States could be accomplishing today without the scourge of opioids robbing us of so much talent and treasure in the last 10 years.
In my job at the United Way working with such nonprofits as Credo Community Center and Pivot, I see some of the effects of this crisis, but from a safe vantage point. For instance, last year, I took Ty Stone, then the new president of Jefferson Community College, on a tour of several local nonprofits, including Credo’s recovery house for women with addictions.
We walked into the room where they hold group discussions and were suddenly looking into the eyes of some 14 women in their 20s. Some were pregnant and all had been exposed to every bad thing that can happen to you when you are addicted to drugs.
I introduced Dr. Stone and asked her if she would like to say something. And she then said something I could not have anticipated. She said the drug crisis was also personal for her because in 2007 in Dayton, OH., her 19-year-old son, Steven Adrian Smith, while walking home from work, was run over and killed by a car driven by a man under the influence of heroin.
After she paused for a few moments, she then looked at every woman in the room and said that when they completed their recovery time at Credo, she would welcome them if they chose to attend JCC. They may have thought they were looking at a college president, she noted, but they didn’t know the whole story of how that title came to be. Stone’s education had been interrupted many times over the years, including her recovery period after the death of her son. They should never give up on themselves, she said, and they should know that there are people throughout the community who are always willing to help them at a moment’s notice.
Nationally, the issue of how to help those in recovery is becoming the topic of magazine articles about parents who have exhausted their savings trying to rescue their adult children who keep relapsing time and time again. There are no easy answers, but the subject of what to do with so many addicted people also allows for the flippant suggestion that nothing needs to be done because the opioid crisis will die out once the addicted die out.
Doreen Slocum is a good example of why working to find a better answer is necessary.
She began using drugs while a student at Alexandria Central School and by her mid-20s, she had been arrested twice: Once for selling drugs and once for shoplifting so that she could sell the merchandise to buy drugs. She overdosed once at her parents’ home and was saved by members of the Thousands Islands Rescue Squad who arrived in time to administer Narcan.
(The number of overdose deaths potentially could be tripled if not for first responders using such drugs that bring the addicted back to life).
Slocum today works at Credo, helping others who are trying to kill the addiction monkey rather than themselves. She is often asked to speak throughout the area about her wild ride that almost ended in her death. And today she smiles often when considering her moments of beautiful irony, such as when she was volunteering at the United Way’s annual food drive last year and was working side by side with Sheriff Colleen O’Neill. It hadn’t been that many years earlier when Slocum was housed in the jail that O’Neill oversees.
Like a lot of people, I wish we were spending $504 billion a year on something more tangible, like infrastructure. But then again, maybe we are. People are this nation’s true infrastructure. And hearing stories from people as diverse as Ty Stone and Doreen Slocum remind us that working together in a united way to find an answer to our addiction problem is worth our time and treasure.
20 Questions: On The Front Line of A Crisis
August 21, 2018 by
SYDNEY SCHAEFER / NNY BUSINESS
Anita Seefried-Brown stands outside the Alliance for Better Communities office.
A Healthy Organization For Healthy Communities
August 14, 2018 by
ALYSSA COUSE
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County is recognized for its community involvement in many different capacities. However, one theme seems to intertwine them all: healthy communities. From out to pasture to on post, CCE Jefferson promotes overall wellness throughout the county. If you aren’t yet familiar with our office, you can find educators in the areas of agriculture, youth development, nutrition, military life and parenting. When you hear the term “health,” fruits, veggies and exercise probably come to mind, but social and mental health are also important to overall wellness and successful communities.
Nutrition and Parenting
In addition to teaching healthy cooking classes and bringing healthy recipes to area schools, the CCE Jefferson Nutrition Program helps other organizations to become healthy workplaces. Through the Adopting Healthy Habits Community Coalition, wellness policies are developed and changes are implemented to make grabbing a nutritious snack or being active in the workplace a possibility. If you are interested in getting your organization started, check out the Adopting Healthy Habits page on http://ccejefferson.org/nutrition/adopting-healthy-habits
The nutrition and parenting departments also interact with families on a daily basis. Whether it be financial stress or tension within the family unit, educators provide direct assistance to help these families get the most out of their money and their relationships. For example, Eat Smart New York (ESNY) is a free and completely confidential program that teaches shopping on a budget, meal planning, food safety, etc., to ensure better physical health. In addition, parenting courses are offered to improve the mental and emotional state of local homes.
4-H
4-H youth development is also making health a focus of its programming. After all, health is one of the H’s! (head, heart, health, hands). As an agriculture educator, I was invited to attend one session during the 4-H afterschool farm-to-table unit. The program began with a healthy snack (varies by day, but usually includes milk and fresh fruit options) and a few minutes to unwind after the school day. The group had been working on an extensive food web showing how food and other products, such as leather goods, make it from farm to consumers’ homes. That particular day, the lesson focused on dairy products. I brought the ever popular wooden milking cow and discussed as much about lactation, cattle nutrition and benefits of consuming dairy products as their attention spans could handle. The session finished up with the students making their own butter! This is just one example of how 4-H members are educated about healthy choices and where their food truly comes from. Other programs, such as 4-H Yoga for Kids, not only teaches kids a new skill but also actually gets their bodies moving!
Agriculture
The agriculture and food systems department focuses mostly on the health of Jefferson County’s plants, animals, and ecosystems to support the production of wholesome local foods and successful farms. The health and well-being of the farmers themselves is a growing (pun intended) priority within the industry. With low commodity prices, increased expenses, and lack of rain, farmers need help now more than ever. To help with the social stress and even depression that has come with the economic downturn, CCE offices all over the state are connecting producers with resources such as NY FarmNet, transition plans, and even crisis hotlines. NY FarmNet is a Cornell University program that provides financial counseling as well as personal counseling for struggling farm families. How can you help the health of farm families? Support them by simply buying their products: milk, cheese, yogurt, fruits and veggies, meats and whole grains.
There is no escaping healthy habits in this office either. A centrally located healthy snack center makes it easy to choose nutritious snacks like carrots, almonds, or cheese versus chips or sweets. Many staff choose to spend their breaks going for a walk around the block or participate in a monthly challenge. For example, a challenge might be who can make the most trips up the stairs in a work day. Just yesterday, we had a six-member team of afternoon break walkers! Even the bathroom stalls are plastered with flyers for physical or food challenges. Staff members also share their heathy habits on the CCE Worksite Wellness Facebook page. Whether it is hiking with the family, a Zumba class, or kayaking, here you can see how staff practice what they preach…. even after hours!
Interested in finding local foods? Check out the Local Food Guide:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/assets.cce.cornell.edu/attachments/30623/2018_Local_Food_Guide_FINAL.pdf?1526321007
Preventative Measures: Area hospitals maintain community health through educational outreach
August 9, 2018 by
AMANDA MORRISON / NNY BUSINESS
Taylour Scanlin poses outside of the Carthage Area Hospital Health Fair, held at the Farmers Market Pavillion.
Regaining Strides: NNY doctor successfully completes ankle replacements
August 7, 2018 by
AMANDA MORRISON / NNY BUSINESS
Dr. Natalie M. Nielsen poses inside the operating room with tools utilized in replacement surgeries.
Northern New York’s Opioid Crisis: What is the cost as the epidemic continues to grow?
August 6, 2018 by
WATERTOWN DAILY TIMES FILE PHOTO
Depending on insurance policies, a person requesting a naloxone or narcan kit at the pharmacy could be provided with one of several options.
Medicare vs. Medicaid: Defining coverage options in nny
August 1, 2018 by
SYDNEY SCHAEFER / NNY BUSINESS
Matthew Wiley of the Jefferson County Office of the Aging.
FARM FRESH to Farmers Market : Bush Gardens family farm stays local from seed to sale
July 6, 2018 by
DAYTONA NILES / NNY BUSINESS
Loren and Chris Bush pick lettuce in preparation for their Wednesday Watertown Farmer & Craft market.
