In our last story, we shared how leaders with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde’s treatment and recovery services say they are making strides in opioid addiction treatment.

That includes work through Great Circle Recovery in Oregon.

The tribe also provides transitional housing services through Main Street Recovery, a program with supportive housing, which also helps address mental health and addiction services on site.

Kelly Rowe is the Executive Director of Health Services for the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.

“Instead of having to go to a facility where you might get 21 days or 28 days, that’s really been something that is more prescribed by insurance than it really is for the best thing for a person to have we’re not putting a limit on that. We’re saying what is good for you is what we want you to do. We’re letting them stay as long as they need to get well.  So that’s become another piece in the continuum of care for us. So, we’re really working hard to make sure people can get well and we’re creating a whole community of recovery here at the reservation.”

Culture is a key aspect in the services says Jennifer Worth, the Operations Director for Main Street Recovery.

“Being able to provide that that holistic approach with access to mental health and substance use and kind of figuring out what the needs are and being able to tailor that to each person that comes through … there’s lots of activities and different things that we’re able to take the residents to.  So for instance, tomorrow they’re going to be working on making paddles. And the other day they came in and they had been part of this carving class and they had all carved this ladle that’s going to be used for a future service that we’ll be adding on site at Main Street. So, things like that are really important.”

Brian Krehbiel is a canoe maker who teaches paddle making and canoeing.

“The canoe has just brought back so much our way of life all around the canoe. That bucket line that we feel when we’re all pulling together, we’re all going forward, we’re all making that forward movement and it helps with our noggins. If you should need it, if you don’t, you’re good. But if you should need some help of motivation and pushing you forward and to do try new things, however that is, that are good for you and it’s wicked fun.”

For people on their mental health and recovery journey having trusted support is of great value says Sydney Clark a recovering addict and Peer Support Specialist Supervisor with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.

“I walk with them, letting them know that they’re not alone in that it’s okay to reach out. It’s okay to feel scared and it’s okay to question things because I didn’t know what I could question and what I couldn’t question and go into meetings having someone sit there with you that might know those questions to ask because that trauma that you’re going through right then and there … I’ve always loved helping people because it helps feed my soul … to be able to learn what would help us grow as a tribe. And each one of us play a big role in peer support, helps get people walk through a door that they normally probably would have never ever walked through.”

Highlighted throughout the services is the resilience of Indigenous people, says Rowe.

“My hope is that we can get out of this cycle of seeking out artificial substance to hide our pain, to hide our trauma that we’re not  afraid to  let that out and to seek out our cultural ways to  heal ourselves … for us, especially health and wellness, it becomes this this plan of no matter who you are, at what stage of life you’re in, we’re here for you and we want you to be able to  become a part of something bigger and that when you’re ready, we’re here for you.”

This story is a collaboration with First Nations Experience Television with support from the Public Welfare Foundation.

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