Army combat veteran, a pastor, and a sought-after speaker on the opioid crisis that has been gripping AmericaвЂ™s society for over three decades. Louis Leake, clinic director at the Comprehensive Treatment CenterвЂ‰-вЂ‰the largest opioid addiction treatment facility in the stateвЂ‰-вЂ‰is a U.S. But communities are banding together to help those in need, providing several potential paths to recovery. There are different paths to substance use disorder, and there are different paths to recovery, too.ДЇrom 2000 to 2020, more than 28,000 North Carolinians lost their lives to drug overdose, according to the NC Department of Health and Human Services, and annual suspected overdose deaths continue to climb (see chart). All struggled with substance use disorders, a part of the nationвЂ™s ongoing opioid epidemic.

In an archipelago of outpatient doctorsвЂ™ offices that cordons the hospital, Acadia HealthcareвЂ™s Comprehensive Treatment Center is frequented by professionals, stay-at-home parents, insurance agents, wounded veteransвЂ‰-вЂ‰no one has the same story, but all shared the same burden as they stood together in line one early December morning.

It was bitter cold, and a misty rain dogged the line of people outside a nondescript building near Cape Fear Hospital in Fayetteville. NC-certified Peer Support Specialists Stephanie Heck (center) and Amy Locklear are in recovery, giving them a unique perspective to help clients. Karen Wicker (left) is the executive director of the recovery center.

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