Hope for Addiction Awareness Rally
May 15, noon-10 p.m.
Courthouse Square, Dayton
Sponsorships, Unity Center building fund
To become a rally sponsor or make building fund donations, call 937-867-9050 or visit www.unitycenterfund.vpweb.com.
Joe Lewis describes the Unity Center’s mission in a video at www.MyDaytonDailyNews.com.
CONTINUING COVERAGE
The Dayton Daily News continues to provide unmatched coverage of the region’s heroin epidemic. read past coverage at MyDaytonDailyNews.com
Sgt. Maj. Joe Lewis went to war three times during his military career. Now he’s engaged in another battle, fighting to keep a building open for those struggling to overcome addiction during the region’s heroin crisis.
Lewis is among a number of people — most recovering addicts themselves — working to update the former West Dayton Club so it can continue to be a safe, alcohol and drug-free place for recovery. The Westwood neighborhood nearly lost the building at 3359 West Second St. to foreclosure and neglect until the group resurrected it and changed the name to the Unity Center last year.
“This place saved my life. I was depressed, desperate and was using drugs and alcohol and I didn’t know what direction I was going to go in,” Lewis said. “After I got out of treatment this was the first place I came.”
That was 25 years ago.
Lewis, 52, is back.
After an Army and Army Reserve career that put him in Afghanistan once and Iraq twice, the computer programmer analyst became president of the Unity Center in 2012. He took on a new mission to update the building and increase programming for those hit hard by the region’s heroin epidemic.
“Right now it’s about giving back,” he said. “Now I have to pass it along to the next person that’s going through the same thing that I went through.”
The name change reflects the organization’s desire to reach beyond West Dayton. Unity Center’s first community-wide event is a Hope for Addiction Awareness Rally scheduled for May 15 at Courthouse Square downtown.
The rally has the potential to save lives across the region, said Margaret Smith, Unity Center treasurer.
“Locking people up doesn’t work. Going into treatment sometimes doesn’t work,” Smith said. “Getting the information is half the battle. It may not get to the specific person who is sick, but it may get to a family member and they can pass the information on to a cousin, a niece, daughter or nephew.”
U.S. District Court Judge Walter H. Rice will be the keynote speaker at the rally beginning at noon, Smith said. Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer and representatives from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, Dayton Police Department, Montgomery County Alcohol, Drug & Mental Health Services board, and Families of Addicts are also scheduled to speak. Area substance abuse treatment centers and shelters will be on hand to answer questions, according to Smith.
Programs at the Unity Center attempt to break a vicious cycle of drug use, Lewis said. The center hosts 18 different group meetings a week that attract 250-300 people, he said. Most are Narcotics Anonymous meetings, reflecting the shift in demand since the group moved into the building in 1984. Meetings during the early years tended to focus more on alcoholism, he said.
“We’re here to save lives. As many lives as we can,” said Lewis, who was once addicted to cocaine. “People are dying at an alarming rate.”
‘I’m surprised it didn’t kill me’
The Dayton Daily News reported last Sunday that unintended drug overdose deaths in the region hit historic highs in 2014. Heroin and the synthetic opioid fentanyl were found to be responsible for more than 70 percent of all overdose deaths in some southwest Ohio counties including Butler, Clark and Montgomery, according to county coroners. Montgomery County recorded 264 total accidental overdose deaths in 2014, up from 226 the previous year. Of those, 190 deaths were attributed to heroin, fentanyl or a combination of the two.
Fentanyl, many times stronger than heroin, was found to be a factor in 114 of the deaths.
Marissa Prater counts herself lucky to be alive after a near overdose last April.
“I’ve had that new heroin that’s out there killing people — the heroin-fentanyl,” she said. “It’s no joke. I’m surprised it didn’t kill me.”
Prater’s experience with fentanyl pushed her through the doors of the Unity Center seeking a positive environment to recover. She’s now the board secretary.
“It’s kept me clean and off the streets,” Prater said. “It’s kept me focused on doing the right things and not being around people who are using.”
The center opens its doors at 11 a.m. daily and typically closes at 7 p.m. unless late meetings are scheduled. At times, the community is welcome to shoot pool, play cards and socialize in a drug-free environment. Additionally, the center has a 4,000-square-foot space that can be rented for special events. Future plans call for a food pantry and clothing program for the homeless to be housed in the basement.
Unity Center has some pressing financial needs to pull off the May rally and get the building back in shape, said Smith and Lewis.
Two furnaces that were stolen need to be replaced — though it was that insurance claim that allowed the non-profit to pay off back taxes and keep the building. The organization would like to feed the needy and neighborhood children during the summer when they’re not getting school lunches, but that requires the installation of a commercial kitchen and fire suppression system.
Lewis figures upgrades to the building alone will run $50,000-$75,000. The board is currently seeking funding sources through donations and grants which are proving hard to come by, but he isn’t giving up on the place he credits with saving thousands of lives — including his own.
“We want to let people know that you don’t have to die from the hold of addiction,” Lewis said. “You can come in here and sit down and somebody will share with you that you don’t have to use.”
About the Author
