ROCKINGHAM —During the grand opening of the SECU Women’s Recovery Center, located on the Samaritan Colony campus, First Lady Anna Stein said she was grateful that the resource is located in the Sandhills.
“The south-central area of the state has suffered far more than its share of drug overdose deaths,” Stein said during her remarks on March 23.
Over a five-year period, from 2019-2023, Richmond County’s resident overdose death rate rose by 513%, compared to the state average of 83%, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
A N.C. State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System fact sheet shows there were 42 Richmond County residents to die by overdose in 2023.
As for other counties in the region:
Of those in Richmond County, 81% involved fentanyl. For several years, Richmond County has had one of, if not the, highest fentanyl-involved death rates in the state. The latest report from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, issued in February, shows Richmond has the third-highest rate.
Overdose deaths in ‘23 also included other drugs: methamphetamine (60%); cocaine (38%); and common prescription opioids (27%).
Stein said the SECU Women’s Recovery Center “will provide hope to individuals and families who have previously been without hope.”
Before becoming the state’s first lady following the election of her husband, Josh Stein, as governor, Stein worked for the N.C. Division of Public Health and served on the Drug Overdose Prevention Team.
She also served as an advisor to her husband when he was attorney general at the time of the multi-state opioid settlement with drug manufacturers, which resulted in the state receiving $1.6 billion for counties to fund treatment and recovery.
Since the original settlement, the county has signed on to receive funds from additional settlements.
Last August, the Richmond County Board of Commissioners approved more than $620,000 in funding from the opioid settlement, including $142,500 for the creation of a drug treatment court and $75,000 each for Samaritan Colony’s men’s and women’s facilities.
Since 2024, commissioners have allocated nearly $250,000 to Samaritan Colony from the settlements.
After becoming first lady, Stein said she decided to focus on two main platforms, both related to her previous role in public health: to reduce stigma against people with mental health and substance use disorders; and to improve rehabilitation and reentry opportunities for those incarcerated or leaving incarceration.
In the past year, Stein said she has visited 23 prisons and multiple treatment facilities across the state.
“In these visits, I’ve seen parallels between people living with substance use disorders and people living in our prisons, namely significant stigma towards both of these populations,” Stein said.
“Many times I’ve been approached by people … to tell me how much it means to them that I am visiting and talking to them,” Stein continued. “They have become accustomed to being treated as less than.”
Citing national survey data, Stein said more than 1.2 million North Carolinians have a substance use disorder — but fewer than one-fourth receive treatment.
“And I think Stigma is at play here in a couple of ways,” she said.
Stigma against those with substance use disorders, according to Stein, “create shame and can make them feel like they aren’t deserving of help, and it can make them feel afraid of the judgement that they will face if they decide to seek help.”
Stein added that many of the available treatment options are “based on flawed ideas on why people use drugs and alcohol and what treatment modalities would be helpful to them.”
“Too often, society views substance use disorder as a moral failing, rather than as a treatable condition often with roots in a person’s genetics or used as a coping mechanism for mental health conditions or past experiences of trauma,” Stein said. “We need substance use programs that recognize root causes of drug and alcohol misuse and that have the capacity to treat … mental health issues and that use trauma-informed practices.”
Stein said it’s also important to have treatment programs that look at people’s lives “in a holistic manner,” recognizing social determinants of health — including a job, stable housing, access to food, and transportation — as well helping clients meet their goals to improve relationships and support the desire for spiritual connection “and meaning in their life.”
“Is all we care about whether a person puts drugs or alcohol in their body or not?” Stein asked. “Because that shouldn’t be the end goal.
“It should be about a person living the life that they want to live, which includes a lot more than just not using drugs and alcohol.”
Last summer, Stein and NCDDHS, in partnership with Shatterproof, launched Unshame NC, “a campaign to increase knowledge around substance use disorders and decrease stigma.”
Stein said the campaign has four messages: “There’s treatment that works; you can take action to support someone with a substance use disorder; every community can be a place of welcome, hope and healing; and people with substance use disorders are essential threads in the fabric of our communities.”
“These are messages of connection that I wholeheartedly endorse,” Stein said.
According to Stein, Unshame NC also “works to eradicate the unfortunate and dangerous stigma toward medications that are used to treat opioid use disorder,” such as methadone and buprenorphine.
“There’s a commonly expressed stigma that using these medications … is just trading one drug for another,” Stein said. “But this view ignores the stark differences in how these medications act in the body versus how illicit opioids act.
“These medications can reduce cravings and allow people to go to work and take care of their families,” Stein said, adding that the aforementioned meds are considered by specialists “to be the gold standard” for treating OUD.
“So, it’s very important for us to combat stigma against these lifesaving medications amongst our treatment providers, in the community, in our families, and amongst people who are struggling with opioid use disorder,” Stein said. “And I will continue to do my part to combat that stigma, and I thank Samaritan Colony and the greater Sandhills community and its elected leaders for their roles in promoting these evidence-based treatments.”
Stein concluded saying that the SECU Women’s Recovery Center will benefit “countless” people and will have a “ripple effect in the community:
“Not just of improving the lives of the women whom it directly serves, but it will benefit their families, their children, their children’s children and the greater community into which they are going to return.”
