Peers provide 24-hour support for substance use services
EASTON, MD
Grace Street, a recovery community organization in Easton, recently received funding to expand hours for 24/7, no-barrier access for people wanting treatment.
Grace Street received a State Opioid Response (SOR) grant from the Maryland Department of Health’s Behavioral Health Administration that supports operating 24/7 as the Talbot County Safe Station. Safe stations are intended as a no-barrier, ease-of-access safe place for people to seek help for addiction.
A Grace Street peer is available 24 hours each day to connect people with treatment or other resources. Peers are people with lived experience; peer support is an evidence-based practice that has become an increasingly integral part of addiction recovery. Grace Street is located at 8262 Ocean Gateway, Suite 1 in Easton. Peers are available at 443-439-1820.
“People in rural areas historically have a hard time gaining access to treatment for a variety of reasons,” said Kelley Callaghan, founder of Grace Street. “So often when people finally get to a place of wanting help, they can’t access treatment. We hope to help change that.”
Talbot County’s safe station program began in 2018 as a collaboration among county officials and agencies. The program was modeled after a similar initiative that started in Anne Arundel County firehouses in 2017. Without paid fire department staff, the local program began at the St. Michaels Police Department and at the Talbot County Department of Emergency Services in Easton.
Grace Street recently received funding from Talbot County’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) that allowed for the purchase of a vehicle. The vehicle allows Grace Street peers to take people to treatment, and to appointments for medications for opioid use disorder and other necessary services. This ensure that lack of transportation never prevents anyone from accessing supports.
“Talbot County is proud to support Grace Street in expanding safe station access and helping people get to treatment,” said Chuck Callahan, Talbot County Council President. “With 24/7 peer support and a new vehicle funded by the county’s ARPA funds, Grace Street is making it easier for people to find help when they need it most. This is an important step forward in supporting the recovery community.”
Grace Street opened in August 2023 and offers a non-clinical, peer-led space for anyone affected by substance use. Since it opened, Grace Street peers have directly connected more than 120 people to inpatient treatment.
The Grace Street Safe Station program is part of an Eastern Shore collaborative via Mid Shore Behavioral Health that includes additional SOR-funded safe stations in Caroline, Wicomico and Worcester counties.
As an RCO, Grace Street provides peer-based and other recovery support services; operates the region’s only harm reduction vending machine and distribution boxes that includes Narcan, Fentanyl and Xylazine test strips; offers free harm reduction materials and services, including wound care; conducts weekly street outreach; provides resource connection and supports; provides life skills and workforce development, including peer recovery support training for certification; hosts support groups and fosters recovery-focused community education.
Grace Street serves people across the Mid-Shore. Referrals are not necessary, and services are free.
Grace Street is a component fund of Chesapeake Charities, a community foundation based in Stevensville. Donations are tax deductible and can be made online at GraceStreetRecovery.org.
This project is supported by the Maryland’s Office of Overdose Response, State Opioid Response, and the Center for Harm Reduction Services of the Maryland Department of Health’s Behavioral Health Administration. The views presented here are those of the grantee organization and not necessarily those of the of MOOR, its Executive Director, or its staff; or of MDH, BHA, HHS, CHRS or its staff.
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