Living Amends Sober Community (LASC)

Mission Statement:

Living Amends Sober Community (LASC) offers addiction counseling, sober living sponsorship, emergency housing and vocational job training for the purpose of addiction recovery and rehabilitation of substance abuse in El Paso County.

Overview:

Living Amends Sober Community (LASC) offers emergency counseling services, e.g. at the scene of a 911 call, as LASC serves in partnership with the Colorado Springs Fire Department. LASC also offers formal addiction counseling by licensed counselors. LASC offers emergency sober living housing managed by a successfully recovered addict of many years. LASC also offers job placement and vocational training programs to assist clients in their rehabilitation and sobriety effort.

Problem being solved?

Substance abuse and the fallout of substance abuse in El Paso County, Colorado.

How are you solving it?

Living Amends Sober Community (LASC) is solving the issues surrounding substance abuse in El Paso County in a holistic approach, designed by former substance abusers who have seen it all. LASC spans our holistic approach from crisis counseling at the scene of a 911-call to the detox unit of County Jail (CJC). LASC works hand-in-hand with the El Paso County Combined Courts Probation Department and Colorado Department of Corrections by helping clients throughout their hearings process in Drug Court and potential incarceration. LASC hosts probationers and parolees in our emergency sober living housing, where clients are required to live sober, partake in household chores, search full-time employment and attend daily sober-living meetings with others in recovery. Each house is managed by a successfully recovered addict of many years. LASC also offers job placement and vocational training in a variety of fields with successful graduates of ours and alike programs. LASC also hosts the largest weekly sober meeting in El Paso County in partnership with the Springs Rescue Mission.

Why are you qualified?

LASC is wholly managed and designed by individuals who used to abuse a variety of substances and are now pillars in the community of El Paso County serving in various leadership roles in Cocaine Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, AA and own/operate a variety of businesses in the community.

What is the urgency?

According to the Colorado health institute, El Paso County led the state with 141 fatal drug overdoses in 2016, followed by Denver County at 138. April 26, 2018

Between 2013 and 2015, El Paso County fell in the middle quintile for the state for opioid overdoses per 100,000 people- between 5.4 and 6.6 fatalities.

According to the Community Health Partnerships in 2018

• In 2016, there were 767 opioid prescriptions written for every 1,000 residents in El Paso County- over 30,606,000 pills were dispensed.
• Opioid deaths nearly doubled in El Paso County between 2013 and 2016 from 66 to 120. Drug deaths in Colorado (928) now outnumber car accident fatalities (600).
• The number of opioid-addicted newborns in Colorado jumped 83% from 2010-2015.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate the total economic burden of prescription opioid misuse in the U.S. at $75.5 billion a year. That takes into consideration the costs of health care, lost productivity, addiction treatment and involvement of criminal justice system.