The Road to Recovery
The scene could almost be out of Dante’s Inferno. But this is real life. Dozens of people in shabby tents or other makeshift semi-dwellings, encamped under the bridge, their environs trashed and chaotic. Even their cold lodgings were not as chaotic as the lives of these men and women, in the grips of a relentless and deadly addiction, mired in desperation, living on a thin edge of survival that could give way one day to a bad dose or a dirty needle.
Katie knew that scene painfully well. But now she knows another scene: her beautiful efficiency apartment at Project HOME’s JBJ Soul Homes residence. With years of strong recovery, she uses that home as a base for outreach to other addicts, including many of those still on the streets of Kensington. Katie embodies a hope that is desperately needed for so many others and for the general public: healing and transformation are possible.
The national opioid crisis is the latest vicious face of addiction. We are working at ground zero in Philadelphia – the Kensington neighborhood – to make that hope and transformation more concrete in response to the burgeoning opioid epidemic. With new housing and supports, as well as renewed energy and urgency, we look ahead for yet more stories of healing.
