ROANOKE, Va. – The Bradley Free Clinic’s Hope Initiative, which helps people with substance abuse, is expanding its services throughout Virginia.
It’s currently working with three free clinics to replicate the Hope Initiative, including in Bristol, Petersburg and Kilmarnock. Next year, it plans on replicating the program at three other free clinics across the state.
“Free clinics as an environment are a perfect fit for this program because they’re able to be that neutral unbiased site for individuals to get connected with any type of resource or any community organization, and so we’re just so thrilled to be able to reach more people have that ripple effect go even farther throughout the state with the support of these free clinics,” said Behavioral Health Program Manager Christine Wright.
The Bradley Free Clinic’s Hope Initiative helps people with behavioral health. It’s helped the community for about eight years and almost 3,000 people have used its services.
“Finding recovery housing. It could be getting into detox, but someone to help them navigate. That is so critical. That’s why the program is very unique,” said Executive Director Janine Underwood of the Bradley Free Clinic.
Underwood founded the Hope Initiative when she was sitting in a meeting with the Roanoke City Police Department after her son died from a drug overdose.
“The Roanoke Police Department was starting a project called the Angel Project. I was at the table learning about the project because I was a mom who had lost her son. I wasn’t there as the executive director of the free clinic, but I wanted to know what I could do to help. So, they started this program with volunteer angels and a research directory, and we all just worked together collaboratively to create the program and it became the Hope Initiative,” said Underwood.
On Tuesday, the group is honoring the Roanoke City Police Department for planting the seed that founded them and it’s also paying tribute to some of its founding members.