BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Addiction affects millions of people every day and Louisiana is no exception, with East Baton Rouge Parish seeing 154 fatal overdoses so far in 2024. That’s why a new recovery center is bringing hope to those in the struggling community with substance abuse disorder. It’s one of many treatment facilities in the area, but the opening of the third Avenues Recovery Center in South Louisiana highlights the dire need for these facilities in the state.

WAFB spoke with a graduate of Avenues Recovery in Covington. He was in the army for eight years and said that when he came back he didn’t know what to do with himself. He turned to drugs and alcohol and was in and out of rehab for months.

“I wasn’t ready to get sober…I got out of Avenues after 60 days, came back to New Orleans and hit the streets right away. I lived under the Claiborne Bridge,” Andrew Barbazon said. “I overdosed multiple times in one day and you just, you don’t see a way out when you’re in it.”

Barbazon said that during that time, he met someone special who helped him get back into treatment. After seeing the addiction take its toll, things changed for him.

“Her name is Emily and she died in June. And being on the other side of the street, like watching your significant other go through addiction, is hard. To think I’ve been doing this to my family for years, you know, and I’ve only been dealing with it for a few months. That’s why I said. I’m grateful to be able to show up again,” Barbazon said.

Barbazon will be sober for two years in February.

“I owe this place my life — literally,” Barbazon said. “I don’t care what happens, there’s nothing in the world that will ever put a needle in my arm.”

He says the hardest part about getting help is the stigma surrounding substance abuse disorder. But he says the more we talk about it and how it controls the human brain, the more we normalize getting help.

Dr. Susan Julius, the medical director of Avenues Louisiana, says at least 15 percent of people worldwide struggle with addiction, but few people understand it.

“Addiction is a disease, it’s not a moral failing, our patients are not bad people, they’re sick people trying to get well,” said Dr. Julius. “And we need to take care of the whole patient — mind and body.”

Dr. Julius says they use evidence-based medications and treatments, giving patients a place to detox, live sober, and address mental health needs as well. Most importantly, they give people hope. People like Nicole Hoag, who is almost two years sober after 26 years of use.

“I can’t even explain how proud I am of myself….like I said, I never thought I would be able to beat my addiction, I’ve been using since I was 13/14, I’m 43 now. “, says Hoag. “If anybody out there that’s struggling and, you know, sees this, you’ve got nothing to lose, just try, you know, and try and try to save your life.”

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