CLAREMORE, Okla — Oklahoma’s Opioid Abatement Project is hoping to expand.
Between 2019 and 2023, the number of fatal overdoses increased by 129 percent. The project aims to lower these numbers.
Chantel Reben participated in the Women in Recovery Program (WIR), offered by Children and Family Services as part of the Opioid Abatement Project.
WATCH: Oklahoma Opioid Abatement Project leaders applied for $28M in grant funds
WIR aims to help women who have had experience with substance abuse through education, rehabilitation, workforce readiness training and even family reunification services.
“My journey through recovery has been a winding road marked through both triumphs and heartbreaks," said Reben. “I would still be in prison today, and I would have lost my son, who is the most important person in my life, and I'm the only person he has because all of my family are still in active addiction.”
The Opioid Abatement Project was created to help provide care to people like Chantel who've had non-violent run-ins with the law and substance abuse.
Attorney General Drummond is part of the initiative and said leaders have applied for a $28 million grant to be deployed this year.
Another change that has taken place is the project now only requires leaders to apply for grants every three years rather than annually, which Drummond said makes it easier to distribute funds when certain initiatives are needed.
Mimi Tarrasch is the Chief Program Officer at Family and Children’s Services.
She said to keep families together, the organization has focused on decreasing incarceration rates for women in Oklahoma.
“We understand the devastation of separation between parents and children, and so parents want to be the best parent they can be," said Tarrasch. “This past year, we've served about 70 women, 40 men. We've impacted about 172 children.”
People like Tarrasch and Reben are excited to see the growth of the project.
"It was a hard road for me, but I think that that intensifies my gratitude today," said Reben. “I was given the opportunity to address my trauma, my loss, my addiction, my health, that reunification with my child, and I've returned to a truer version of myself. I've come to appreciate the lessons from the loss of the re-creation of life that follows.”
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere --
- Download our free app for Apple, Android and Kindle devices.
- Sign up for daily newsletters emailed to you
- Like us on Facebook
- Follow us on Instagram
- Watch LIVE 24/7 on YouTube
