Greg interviews Michelle Harter, the Associate Director of Anchor Recovery Community Centers—a recovery support group, engaged in the building and development of recovery culture in Rhode Island. Michelle was also the primary architect of AnchorED, a special program connecting people admitted to emergency rooms, for opioid related reasons, with trained recovery coaches. Michelle sheds light on how these recovery coaches play an important role in helping people avoid another overdose.

Greg asks Michelle how she got the idea to start AnchorED. She discusses how the launching of the program was a combined effort, after several doctors came to a common realization about the way substance abuse is treated in emergency rooms. She explains why the recovery is more important than the overdose and how AnchorED helps those suffering from substance abuse. “We treat these people with a peer recovery coach, someone who’s been where they’ve been,” says Michelle. “They can talk to them on the same level and have some empathy and sympathy for the individual… Additionally, they can give them information and support.”

Listen to the podcast to discover how successful AnchorED has been across the state of Rhode Island and the future plans of the program.