Finance Committee - 12/06/2017 Page 7
So based upon that experience and based upon the fact that we have limited funds and we hope to involve
others in this effort, | have been saying, “If we can get one person who was working with a group of people,” —
and yes, obviously one recovery coach cannot work with 1,000 people; the estimate is 20-40, maybe even 50
but probably not. Twenty to forty at any one time, maybe there’s a little bit of rotations. Over the course of a
year maybe 40, 60, 80, 100 people; something like that. If we could get one recovery coach for a limited
amount of money, we could partner with Revive who knows this business quite well, and they would do the
hiring and the like. And if out of that person we could develop not only the anecdotal “here’s what | found” kind
of story, as Eric Adams has done, but also statistical data showing I’ve worked with so many people and here’s
the kind of effectiveness there’s been; this many are still in recovery, etc. If we have one pilot program, that
based upon what happened in Laconia, we might then be able to convince others that expanding the network
is worth it, and we might find other funding sources. We might convince other people to become involved in
trying to expand the network. On the other hand —| don’t think this is going to take place — if this had no effect
whatsoever, we would know, well, we tried that and it didn’t work.
So you are totally right, Alderman Clemons, that there is no way that this person could work with 1,000 people
or even a majority of the people who come through in a year, but at least some, and the choice to some extent
would be random, in a sense that we just need him to work with any group of people that are coming into
recovery. | suppose those that get this service are more fortunate than ones who don't, but it’s better to be
helping 50 people than 0. So we help 50 people, if that were the number, and we develop information that
might lead to more people getting the same kind of help.
So that’s the thought process. And this has taken place over six months probably. That’s the thought process
that has led to this step.
Alderman Clemons
Thank you for the explanation. | think we need to start somewhere. | guess my concern with it was | don’t want
to see it fail because a person is overwhelmed or were not giving it enough go at the beginning to make sure
that it’s something that’s going to be successful. That’s where my concern was coming from, not that | don’t
agree with it; | think it’s a great idea. | think it’s something that we need to do. But more of are we doing
enough to ensure its success. | certainly will support it, but | hope that if for some reason there are issues
relating to the success of it, but more in the sense of the fact that the person is overwhelmed or we can’t help
enough people or we just don’t have enough resources, | hope that the reaction is not one of, “Well, this was a
waste of money,” but rather, “We didn’t soend enough and we didn’t get enough resources out there to do the
job.” And | hope that, as you say, Mayor, that the community will come around and rally behind something like
that, because | would hate to see us do an endeavor like this and have it fail because we just didn’t give it
enough push at the beginning.
Mayor Donchess
| appreciate that. The three people who came to the Budget committee last night were Justin Etling, who owns
and runs Process Recovery in Hudson, which is an inpatient treatment facility, as well as another organization
that is running about 10-12 sober houses in Nashua and the surrounding area, and serves about 120 people in
those sober houses. He has been in recovery himself for 20 years. He didn’t tell his whole story last night but
it's quite inspiring: Somehow family troubles, parents involved with heroin and the like, so he got addicted
when he was a teenager. And by himself, he went into recovery, lived on Palm Street, and by himself — he’s
now gone sober — works at the mall a couple of different jobs, decides this is leading nowhere. He gained
some computer training, got into IT — never actually went into college, but more like trade school level stuff —
but he moved up in IT and was the head IT guy for a hedge fund down in Boston. After working at that for
some years, he decided to — he knew someone very well who OD’d fatally — invest his time and money into
recovery. So he’s developed this entire network. He’s very devoted.
And the other two people are in recovery but not as long as Justin. They know this business, and | think if
you'd been there you would agree, very, very well, and they are very conscious of the fact that a recovery
coach cannot function effectively if they have too many people. Where the number is coming from, the 20-40,
