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Extend the Same Welcome Mat

Perhaps you’ve noticed that many of our local churches provide regular meeting space for both Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous programs. I would bet these meetings even take place in our towns on a weekly basis. There is a good chance that some of them are located near daycare centers, residential neighborhoods, and schools. They provide much-needed space for people to achieve sobriety through fellowship and the ongoing support of an understanding community. They have been doing so in Connecticut for well over 75 years without complaint.

Addiction takes many forms, including a dependency on opiates. Addictions are non-discriminatory. They affect the rich and poor, old and young, suburban and urban residents. Guilford is not immune from the very real health crisis that comes with opiate addiction. Why then brand a methadone clinic with the prejudice of fear? Choosing to maintain sobriety should be encouraged with appropriate and effective treatment. Why not extend the same welcome mat to a methadone clinic that we have extended to other groups confronting the devastation of addiction? A methadone clinic in our town would serve the very people who we call our relatives, neighbors, and friends. They deserve our support so they can continue to do the hard, heroic work of staying sober.

Kate Summerlin

Guilford