Nazareth Child and Family Connection helps county residents with addiction

It is a time when many have become numb to the drug use statistics in our country, our counties and our communities.

We know it is a problem, a gigantic problem, that leaves a wake of destruction in its path. In 2022 there were 89 drug overdose deaths in Rowan County. From 2020 to the end of 2022, there were over 36,000 North Carolinians who died of drug overdoses.

These are more than numbers, though. They are people. They are family members. They are the friends next door. Members of our community.

As bleak as it sounds, lives are being saved and families are held together, thankfully, because of funding from organizations such as Rowan County United Way.

The funding that Rowan County United Way makes available to Nazareth Child & Family Connection’s Salisbury office has helped stem an increase in those numbers and help others who are seeking help.

Nazareth specifically uses those funds to provide services to the uninsured and under-insured seeking care at our Salisbury office. The funding from United Way ensures that we can operate in a manner where we don’t have to turn anyone away because of their lack of ability to pay.

During the first nine months of 2023, Nazareth’s Salisbury office conducted over 2,044 appointments with 274 clients. Without funding from Rowan County United Way, it would not have been possible for Nazareth to help that many people.

Recovery is not easy or cheap. It is easier for clients, though when they don’t have to worry about the cost which is where organizations such as Rowan County United Way are lifesavers. Literally.

The average weekly cost for substance use treatment with Nazareth can range from $533 for intensive outpatient treatment to $265 for individual treatment and $165 for group treatments.

These costs are out of reach for those without insurance and difficult for the insured with high co-pays.

Even though the cost of recovery is high in dollars and cents, it is invaluable to communities. It restores hope, repairs and reunites families, and helps people become working, tax-paying members of society again.

Thankfully, we are blessed with Rowan County United Way which understands the broad, far-reaching impact of recovery and is willing to invest in the well-being and future of our community.

Please consider making a gift to this year’s Rowan County United Way campaign. To donate, visit www.rowanunitedway.org or call 704-633-1802.

— Jennifer Ethridge
Salisbury

Ethridge is CEO of Nazareth Child & Family Connection.

Elite universities support anti-semitic protesters

Since the violent attacks on Israel by terrorists in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, we all have seen where the terrorists in our country are to be found — mostly at the so-called “elite” schools in the Ivy League. The administrations have been quick to support their bigots and racists known as students and faculty. Yet, the Biden team isn’t arresting any of them for their hate crimes and activities. The hypocrisy isn’t surprising. Thankfully, donors, law firms and businesses are cutting off money and job offers; things our government should do, but won’t.

— Floyd Prophet
Kannapolis