This grantee update is from 2020 Impact100 Oakland County finalist Families Against Narcotics (FAN) on its COMEBACK Quick Response Team (QRT) project, which is a positive, evidence-based intervention program that connects a person who has experienced a drug overdose to treatment and other supportive services.
FAN’s QRT consists of a non-threatening, compassionate team of professionals who help
individuals and their families find recovery and maintain a healthy environment. The QRT will help an estimated 300 Oakland County residents and their families within Oakland County alone, reaching about 600 individuals in one year.
Since receiving their Impact100 Oakland County grant, FAN expanded the program throughout all QRT teams to include prevention as a service to those at risk of overdosing.
And despite short-staffing issues due to the COVID-19 pandemic, retirements, and general
reassignments, FAN has been able to accomplish one of its original goals to recruit many peer and family recovery coaches to serve within the Berkley and Oak Park Departments of Public Safety as well as the Farmington Hills, Madison Heights, and Troy Police Departments.
FAN also used funding for various supplies and administration items, including hosting three QRT training courses, providing recovery coaching services, and building comfort and harm reduction kits.
While FAN has recognized that some are not always ready to stop using drugs when
encountering the QRT, many of the 130-some participants who accepted services have shown remarkable progress in their recovery journeys. This includes a participant who interacted with the Madison Heights Police Department, received his seventh DUI, and was encouraged by Lt. Jeff Filzek to try out FAN’s program. FAN proudly reported that the participant quickly became “engaged, plugged in, and working the steps.”
“Through peer recovery coaching, this individual decided to regularly attend AA meetings,
completing 90 meetings in 90 days,” FAN stated in its progress report. “When he went to [his] sentencing, he got what the PRC considered a ‘lenient sentence’ of 21 days in county jail. He finished coaching and is doing well to this day—so much so that Lt. Filzek has suggested interest in having him come talk at the QRT training sessions.”
As a result of the connections made through the Impact100 Oakland County grant, FAN has grown from two to now nine QRTs in Oakland County. “We are grateful for the support we received through Impact100 to grow the program,” the organization said. “Thank you for everything.”