Nonprofit receives $220,000 in city funds, adds more peer mentors to better connect unhoused people to substance use treatment
photo by: Bremen Keasey
A Kansas nonprofit will assist Lawrence’s Homeless Response Team after receiving funding from the city by providing better access for substance use treatment, and it believes its peer mentors can help better engage people for recovery.
Mirror Inc., a nonprofit organization with multiple locations across Kansas that provides a range of substance use treatment options, received $220,000 this month from the City of Lawrence’s Special Alcohol Fund to provide peer outreach support with the Homeless Response Team.
Nick Casarona, the director of treatment services with Mirror Inc., said the group has already been helping the team by adding a clinician to help connect unhoused people to substance use treatment. Casarona said the clinician works to identify the level of care an individual would need and provide an assessment required by the state, which is kind of like a “golden ticket” to help expedite access to treatment for those patients.
“(The clinician) can make the connection in outreach with the Homelessness Response Team and get (an individual) connected to treatment a lot quicker,” Casarona said.
The new agreement will expand the team’s number of peer mentors, who are people who have previously struggled with substance use disorder and now work with individuals to help them get care. Casarona said Mirror will be able to add four more peer coaches to the outreach team.
Casarona knows firsthand how crucial having peer support can be. Before his current role, he said he was in recovery too and previously faced substance use issues, mental health issues and even incarceration. When he started his journey to recovery, he was afraid that the systems that were working to help him could stigmatize his past or that he wouldn’t be able to relate to people who only learned about addiction through textbooks. But after meeting other people who understood his struggles, Casarona said he was able to open his mind to the possibilities of treatment.
Casarona said peer coaches are vital for helping individuals struggling with substance use who have a lack of trust in systems by being able to share their personal stories and help give home to a fellow person in recovery.
“Having someone who has walked that path before is a proven, powerful tool to keep people engaged and get individuals to start the journey to find housing, find recovery,” Casarona said.
Because the group has multiple centers for substance use treatment in the state — ranging from detox, inpatient and outpatient programming — it lowers a barrier for unhoused individuals who end up seeking treatment through the Homeless Response Team, Casarona said. And the peer coaches stay connected with their client throughout their treatment and help keep the clients connected to community based resources like food banks or housing resources.
The mix of multiple treatment options is really important for removing barriers to substance use treatment, but the work of peer coaches who work “like an adhesive,” as Casarona said, to connect people to resources is the key to how Mirror looks to assist homeless individuals struggling with addiction.
“That shared lived experience is powerful. It helps prove something different is possible,” Casarona said.