NEW ORLEANS— Imagine being a person who struggles with the life and death battle of addiction. Now imagine having to fight that battle during the coronavirus pandemic.

Mike Martyn, CEO of Responsibility House says,”There’s just a tremendous amount of stress with the uncertainty of the COVID-19 virus and all the issues of businesses being shut down that everybody’s experiencing. Because of that there’s a lack of resources that people in recovery would usually be able to access.”

It’s the perfect storm of disasters for people seeking help. What’s more is that the fight for sobriety even exists for people that are already clean.

No one can conduct traditional 12-step meetings for groups like AA or NA and as a result, many of those fellowships have taken their meetings online to software like ZOOM and Facebook Groups.

What is encouraging is that help does exists for those that seek it.

Leah Rosa of Avenue’s Recovery said, “Both of our facilities are in-taking patients, open and fully operational. What we know for sure is that in a time like this there are many people that need our help and are going to need our help.”

For anyone struggling with addiction, The State of Louisiana has a helpline to call: 1-866-310-7977.

Additional help for addiction is available at aaneworleans.org or 504-838-3399

Help is also available at noana.org or 504-899-6262

Click here to contact Responsibility House

Click here to contact Avenue’s Recovery