To the Editor:
“Act locally.” Or is “local” too boring, given the exciting bull-only coming out hourly from Washington, D.C.? Even the little things we’ve begun to do on the Island this summer are far more impressive than all that. Fortunately, a couple hundred volunteers have gotten something going in 2017 that most others may have missed, and are trying to extend it to year-round. In winter, many staffed the night shelter and a day warming center, and ran two small weekend backpack food pilots in two schools without having to create two new 501(c)(3)s with a lot of overhead expenses. In summer, more volunteers ran three amazing summer youth and student food program test sites.
This summer, half-over, already shows a sustained commitment. Normally, everything is usually all about tourists. Meetings of new citizens’ task groups have not been pushed off until September. Instead we seem to be cobbling together “minimal baselines” for year-round student food, and year-round access to basic services for unsheltered adults. The Island Food Pantry is now open year-round. The Boys and Girls Club has been working hard to address the demand for increasing their capacity for all of their services. Can’t wait to hear their report.
Narcan administered by the Police and EMTs has postponed many premature deaths, while new pathways to detox and rehab have begun to extend lives. During opioid task group meetings last spring, it seemed clear that these efforts would not be sustainable through the mayhem of summer. Surprise! They are, thanks to support from MVH, MVCS, Vineyard House, and a new breed of recovery coaches sustaining access to care and treatment for those with substance use disorders.
There are new crewmembers of primary care physicians at MVH (replacing those retired); some are specially trained to do medical management of opioid addiction for those in recovery. There’s a similar in-house capability at MVCS, with new wrap-around longitudinal care. We also have far more depth than expected placing or treating the related “dual-diagnosis” groups, for those of you who happen to know what that is.
We motley crews of volunteers, still in with both feet, probably see more of a “sea change” than most — more pieces of what’s available and not available, working or not yet working, through simple work to serve (year round) those who have “very challenging lives” (but before now have been lost in summer’s crowds). It’s clear to us that if we stop moving forward, we won’t stand still, just slip back.
Les Holcomb
Vineyard Haven
The post Volunteers keep moving forward appeared first on The Martha's Vineyard Times.