Kim and Matt Richards created a program to help addicts a few years ago that has turned into the Wirt County Recovery Team. (Photo by Candice Black)

ELIZABETH — The word “recovery” refers to “a return to a normal state of health, mind or strength,” according to dictionary.com.

To offer a better chance at a successful treatment, the Wirt County Recovery team recently opened a Recovery House in hopes of providing a temporary safe space for people struggling with drug addiction to go to regain a sense of physical and mental health. The house has four beds available for use and is open to anyone.

Since the house’s opening in August, Kim and Matt Richards, coordinators of the Wirt County Recovery team, believe that it has helped in terms of “support. It’s helped them gain resources that they wouldn’t have otherwise had (and) they’ve built friendships. It’s a mutual gathering of like-minded people,” Kim Richards said.

Despite negative reactions from the community, Kim Richards believes that locals are realizing the importance of the project. “I think people are starting to actually see a difference, seeing people going into treatment and doing the right thing,” she said. She felt like in the beginning of the project, the approval rate from the community was around 20-30 percent and now she feels that it’s jumped to about 80 percent.

The major goal of the house, according to Kim Richards, “is to keep people sober and clean to get them back into the community as functional citizens.” She feels that the county is a lot more safe than it was at this point last year and that’s due to the fact that people know there’s help available and that “people feel more comfortable in their homes.”

The house is open for multiple uses. It provides a space for people to come in and be together, find resources, sit and eat or to attend a meeting. “They’re not on the streets, they’re not causing problems,” Kim Richards said. “There’s been a big change in how they conduct themselves day to day.”

According to Wirt County Sheriff Travis Corbitt, the issues that needed to be addressed were the lack of beds or a space that someone could go. “The whole idea behind the house is a place where somebody can go if you’re trying to find them a detox bed, or they’ve detoxed and you’re trying to find them a rehab (center).”

Sometimes there can be a two or three day lag while trying to get into a detox or rehabilitation center and the idea is to provide a place that will keep them away from the environment that isn’t good for them.

In a type of situation that the participants could be in, time is of the essence. The Richardses do everything they can to get someone help as quickly as possible.

“When somebody comes to us and asks for help, the time lot that we have is less than twelve hours. If I don’t have them someplace safe in twelve hours, I can’t really say that they’re not going to go out and use,” Kim Richards said.

Another way that the house solves a problem is that it provides a space for support meetings. Previously, meetings were held at multiple locations throughout the community, but the house is “a one stop shop for all your recovery needs,” Matt Richards said.

Having a place where everyone can be together and support each other is an important part of the recovery process, according to Kim Richards. “The biggest thing to recovery is togetherness and having like-minded people around you and the support.”

The Recovery Team is meant to work alongside the Quick Response Team which received funding earlier this year. QRT focuses on recovery and intervention.

While the QRT offers many services for addicts, Kim Richards explained that there was a lot of gray area. The Recovery Team was opened to fill in those gray areas and create “follow up support.”

Once participants go through the QRT program, they go right into the Recovery Team program which works to follow up with the individual and provide more long-term support.

The Recovery Team is currently funded through the community, churches and fundraisers. The plan is to finalize paperwork to apply for grants to grow the program, Kim Richards said.

The Richardses want the community to realize that the organization wants to remain transparent. “We want to stay as transparent as possible, we’re not hiding anything behind closed doors,” Matt Richards said. “As far as what goes on there, it’s an open door policy. We’re not trying to hide anything.”

For upcoming events, information or a list of needed donation items for the house, such as serving utensils, blankets and laundry detergent, visit the Wirt County Recovery Team’s Facebook page.

Candice Black can be reached at cblack@newsandsentinel.com