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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nOne of the things DrugFree WilCo has done over the years during its monthly meetings is to include a testimonial from somebody who\u2019s been\u00a0impacted \u2014 whether they were addicted, in recovery, or have a family member who\u2019s been affected. For a person to tell their story for five to 10 minutes adds a lot in the way of understanding and compassion. If you understand, you can help direct people to resources and provide solutions. Those with an opioid dependency could be a relative, a neighbor, or a co-worker.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shaw is a great admirer of drug court, which is another assistance program that has been in existence for a while and is geared toward those who are incarcerated. The judge gives them an opportunity to receive help, but they have to do the work. This year, five people graduated. \u201cFive people doesn\u2019t sound like a lot,\u201d Shaw said. But those are five salvaged lives and five chances at a future.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is also a focus on stopping the problem before it begins, which includes outreach to kids as young as grade school. One offshoot of DrugFree WilCo is the Youth Prevention Coalition (YPC), which was actually started by a teenager who came to DrugFree WilCo meetings and said, \u201cWe need this in the schools.\u201d There\u2019s nothing as valuable as peer-to-peer interaction, and YPC \u201chas taken off, and it\u2019s in many of our schools. It\u2019s really good. It\u2019s made an impact.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wilson Rides also originated with Hutto. It had been noticed that more and more older adults were being admitted to emergency rooms and hospitals. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n They weren\u2019t, as it turned out, going for regular doctors appointments or medical appointments that were scheduled because they couldn\u2019t drive themselves. Some had nobody to turn to for help; others simply didn\u2019t want to be a burden. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Wilson County, by and large, lacks public transportation, and cab service can be prohibitively expensive. Wilson Rides is a volunteer ride service where the drivers are volunteers who drive their own cars. People over 55 can call and make an appointment. If they need a ride, they can have up to three destinations in one trip. The drivers get to know the riders, and they become friends. \u201cPart of the mission of Wilson Rides,\u201d Shaw said, \u201cbesides providing an affordable, safe transportation service, is providing a social connection. If you\u2019re at home by yourself for a long time, everything starts to go downhill.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n DrugFree WilCo and Wilson Rides have very different constituencies. But both are dedicated efforts to make the area a better place. \u201cI am touched by all of this,\u201d Shaw concluded. \u201cAnd I love being part of it, where I can see the results of it.\u201d And those results are many and expanding outward. GN <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" SUSAN SHAW is the project administrator for Wilson County Mayor Randall Hutto. \u201cMy skills,\u201d she said, \u201care project management and bringing people together.\u201d This is an apt \u2014 and modest \u2014 summation of her work with two outreach programs: DrugFree WilCo and Wilson Rides. The scope of these two entities is very different. What they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":22536,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cover"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/lebanon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2025\/04\/IMG_8482-1024x683.jpg\")
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