Good News Notes: “Mother’s Day is just a few hours away and while many will spend the day celebrating their moms and other motherly figures. One local mom is making a change by channeling her grief into a nonprofit geared to helping those struggling with substance abuse after losing her eldest son. Lisa Gray is…
Tag: addiction
A local nonprofit is planning transitional homes in Joplin
Good News Notes: “A nonprofit is getting help from the community to get up and running. Vita Nova Village is raising funds to build several transitional homes. “Vita Nova Village was born out of the idea of creating something to provide the next step to homeless people once they were ready to leave the shelters,”…
France offers state-funded therapy, tackles mental health
Good News Notes: “Treatment for psychological problems will be funded by France‘s government starting next year, the president announced Tuesday, amid growing awareness and concern about mental health. State health care systems in Britain, Germany and some other countries already fund therapy sessions. French health professionals say a national effort to improve access is long overdue, especially as the coronavirus pandemic…
Kit Harington reveals depression and alcohol struggles
Good News Notes: “Former Game of Thrones star Kit Harington is opening up about some of the darker moments over the past few years, including his addiction struggles. In an interview with the Sunday Times Magazine, Harington confessed that “things that have happened to me since Thrones ended, and that were happening during Thrones, were of a pretty traumatic nature and they did…
Here’s what happened when Miracle Messages gave cash transfers to unhoused people
Good News Notes: “For the last six months, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that works with people experiencing homelessness tried a simple experiment: If it gave some people a small basic income of $500 a month, how much could it help? The nonprofit, called Miracle Messages, pairs unhoused people with volunteer “buddies” who make weekly calls and…
How one social worker is giving back to his childhood community
Good News Notes: “When he worked as a student advocate at Fort Vancouver High School, Damien Wheeler connected with a student who was at risk of failing. Wheeler said the student wasn’t asking his teacher for help, so he stepped in. “He felt comfortable because he had someone on his side,” Wheeler said. “And he…
He Lost Nearly Everything To Addiction. Then An Arrest Changed His Life
Good News Notes: “Heroin started rewiring and taking control of Will’s brain in the early 2000s, as he turned 40. “Back then, if you used drugs people didn’t want anything to do with you,” Will recalls. “People gave up on me.” Will lost almost everything: jobs, his driver’s license, his car, his marriage and his…
Safeway, Ideal Option team to break addiction stigma
Good News Notes: “The opioid crisis was an issue before the pandemic, and the need for addiction services is even more desperate now. The Washington State Department of Health said overdose deaths accelerated during the pandemic, jumping 38% in the first half of 2020. And most of that came from deaths involving fentanyl. Susan Mitchell,…
MHA Nation opens Healing Hearts Lodge to help those in recovery
Good News Notes: “Cianna Rabbithead knows firsthand the effects of addiction. “I have family members that struggle with it, and I really wanted to get into this field to be able to help them,” Rabbithead said. She’s the director at Bismarck’s newest recovery center, MHA Healing Hearts Lodge. The $7 million housing facility has 24…
‘I can dream again’: Central Ohio nonprofit gives those struggling with addiction a second chance
Good News Notes: “For nearly half her life, Courtney Farley says she fought the temptations of drugs and alcohol. She is now 24 years old. “You know, my dreams went from, like, being a vet, you know, every girls’ dream to, like – I bet I can be, like, the best drug dealer,” said Farley. …