Some people in Logan County say they are often distrustful of politicians. They feel like their votes mean nothing. It’s easy to understand why they feel that way.
Year after year, they’ve heard promises from politicians to improve their lives, but many still struggle to make ends meet and continue to watch friends and family battle addiction.
But last week in Chapmanville and Logan, some opened their doors, sat down on their porches and agreed to talk about their hopes for the future anyway. They frequently brought up fentanyl, heroin, and meth addiction, as well as backpackers walking the streets at all hours of the day.
Amber Blankenship, who manages the county’s Quick Response Team, said those walking the streets are also dealing with other problems.
“It’s synonymous with mental health,” she said.
Multiple people said they want to see public officials address the problem of street walkers, some homeless and addicted to drugs. People in recovery said they used to be homeless too, due to drug addiction, but there are no homeless shelters nearby.
Every week in Logan County, dozens of residents of the New Beginnings Home for Men and the Marjorie Oakley Home for Women sober living residences gather at the regular Thursday evening meeting of Celebrate Recovery.
At the faith-based addiction support group, held at the Word of Life Church, they sing, hear personal stories and worship.
This election season, they said they want politicians to focus on access to treatment and recovery residences.
Overdoses have increased for years in West Virginia, despite Democratic and Republican lawmakers’ efforts to address the epidemic through cracking down on pill-dispensing doctors and pharmacies and stricter drug penalties.
In 2021, Logan County was ranked fifth in the state with 160 fatal overdoses, according to the most recent state data available. About a third involved methamphetamine, more than many other counties.
Residents said they had heard good things about the two local recovery residences before moving in but each have only 16 beds each, most for people who’ve been ordered there by judges. Other good residences can be hard to find.
And Dwight Neal, who is on the board of the recovery centers, under the umbrella of the Recovery Group of Southern West Virginia, said while people who live there are from counties throughout the state, including Logan County, the residence relies on state funding.
“It’s like a family here, home,” said one resident, Brenda Francis.
When some Logan County residents reach out to the two recovery residences, they often can’t afford it, although the center does fundraisers and some people sponsor beds for people who can’t afford to pay.
And they can’t ask family and friends because they’ve burnt bridges while struggling with addiction. And if they do stay in one of the residences, when they leave, they have difficulty making enough money– some can’t pass background checks, jobs are scarce and available jobs are minimum wage.
“What do I do?” Neal said. “Go back to the thing that I knew in the past, and it’s going to be dealing and doing drugs again.”
One attendee of the Thursday night meeting, Luke Fisher, is originally from Florida. It’s taken him multiple tries at treatment, but he said at least in Florida, people could walk into addiction treatment centers straight off the street and immediately find help.
“They need that around here,” he said. “I couldn’t get help in West Virginia.”
In interviews, many people in Logan County described having trouble paying the bills, although coal-related jobs are better-paying.
Some people pointed to a low minimum wage, inflation and the boom and bust cycle of the coal industry. Some were struggling with inflation even though they made too much for public safety net benefits.