Worcester parish gets grant for addiction help

By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press

WORCESTER – Blessed Sacrament Parish received a $10,000 grant this week to educate and support families dealing with addictions. The project is to be carried out at the church and in neighborhoods and homes.
The grant from the New England Region of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine began May 1 and runs through April 30, 2019, said Romeo Marquis, the parish’s part-time faith formation facilitator. He applied for the grant and will oversee the project, called Community Outreach to Hope and Recovery.
“We’re very, very excited about this,” he said. “It’s a good chance to address some societal problems that affect families, but to do it in a faith-filled environment. … For us as a parish it’s an opportunity to … reach out in some new and innovative ways.”
Evangelization is more than just trying to get people to come back to the Church, he said; “if they don’t come, we have to go” to them. He praised Blessed Sacrament’s pastor, Father Richard F. Trainor, for his support and his understanding of the need for outreach.
Father Trainor said it is exciting for him to see “the Church is out in the marketplace.”      
The grant will pay part-time salaries for a coordinator  and a substance use disorder counselor. Mr. Marquis will coordinate the project and Rebecca Zwicker, an independent “recovery coach,” will be the counselor and a consultant to the project’s volunteer team.
Mr. Marquis has been a high school teacher and principal, an associate dean for academic technology and distance education, and a facilitator in the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division of the Maine Department of Education, in which he participated in interventions and recovery placements. He occasionally teaches online courses in instructional design.
The grant will also pay for stipends for topic presenters and a computer lab with print and online resources and mobile units.
The lab is to be set up in Epiphany House, a former convent behind the church, which also has other rooms that can be used.
This “Hope and Recovery Center” for programs and drop-in educational services is to have three laptops and computer monitors that will enable groups to watch videos together. Two of the laptops and monitors will also be available to take to neighborhoods and private homes for presentations and discussions.
The grant proposal gives reasons for the project, including a rise in opioid-related deaths in Worcester and a rise in 911 calls for any drug overdoses.
The proposal tells about a workshop about opioid and alcohol addictions and spirituality which drew 44 people to Blessed Sacrament last November. Discussions there indicated that attendees were not fully aware of substance use disorder as a treatable disease, ways substances were inappropriately obtained, hidden and used, and how to help loved ones misusing substances.
Several attendees indicated a need for more workshops, and, since then, parishioners have asked for more information about prevention and recovery services, the proposal says.
“Blessed Sacrament Church has made the deliberate choice to more actively reach out to families affected by the opioid epidemic and other drug related issues,” the proposal says. “Through ongoing education and support, many myths associated with chemical dependency will be addressed, including causes of dependency, the stigma associated with dependency, and ways in which treatment and recovery can occur.”
Computer programs are to be designed for the project, with links to other sources of information. There is to be material geared to teenagers, families and senior citizens.
Blessed Sacrament plans to partner with members of Worcester Interfaith, to which it belongs, and hopes for participation of other Christians, Jews, Muslims, and persons with no religious affiliation, Mr. Marquis said.
“We also seek to collaborate with other education, health care, treatment and recovery specialists to provide awareness programs, scalable and sustainable support services, and referral services,” the proposal says. Support services would include professional help and support groups for families, so they can share their experiences.
When the grant runs out, Mr. Marquis is to continue his responsibilities for the project as part of his duties at Blessed Sacrament, and the parish will pay to renew the annual subscription to the main computer program, he said.
Among partners Blessed Sacrament plans to work with are the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, which awarded the grant; the Worcester Public Library and the Worcester-based Living in Freedom Together (LIFT). The website liftworcester.org says LIFT’s mission is to help people leave and recover from commercial sexual exploitation.
On April 24 the founder and executive director of LIFT, Nicole Bell, conducted Blessed Sacrament’s second session in a planned series.
Ms. Bell said people sometimes get into the commercial sex industry because of the opioid crisis, as they seek money for drugs. She said people also use drugs to cope with trauma, including sexual exploitation, so trauma must be addressed along with addictions.
She expressed preference for the term “substance use disorder,” instead of “addiction,” to describe “chronic, relapsing brain disease.” Relapse is part of most chronic diseases, she said. She called for supporting, not giving up on, people with substance use disorder, which she said can be treated with various medications.
Responding to a listener during the question and comment period, she said, “The Church can be a voice  with people in recovery.”