October 05, 2023 – Andrea Cline spent 18 years of her life in addiction, the last two as an IV drug user. She went to jail 34 times. Her marriage was over, she was homeless, and Andrea’s three children were in her mom’s custody. She had lost everything.

The last time in jail was a turning point for her. She landed in drug court, “It saved my life.”

Andrea knew she didn’t want to go to jail. That is where she would be if she failed one of the regular court-ordered drug tests, and her life began to change.

“Once I started getting clean and experiencing my life differently, I wanted to live my life more like that.”

Once clean for nine months, Andrea started helping other addicts at Addiction Recovery Center. From there, she went to Frontier Behavioral Health, helping other addicts, and then to Highlands Regional Medical Center to become a Peer Recovery Coach. She says, “Seven years later [since getting clean], my whole world is different.”

Now, she is the Lead Peer Recovery Coach. She talks to people who are addicted and who come to the ER. “I don’t try to push them into treatment. I tell them I was in this very hospital in a bed in the ER just like they are. I ended up here after overdosing two times, and now I work here! I just tell them my story and that there are other options.”

Cline often hears responses like “No one has ever asked me if I wanted treatment,” “No one has ever cared enough to ask me if I wanted treatment,” and “I didn’t know that kind of treatment was available.”

Some tell her they do not want treatment. “I just talk to them about harm reduction and needle exchange programs. I get them clothing vouchers if they need clothes and tell them about food banks. I give out Narcan and fentanyl testing strips. I try to help them stay alive so that maybe one day, they can still have the choice of going to treatment.”

Now, Cline and one of her three daughters share a home with her granddaughter.

“I work every day and I never even thought of working before when I was in active addiction. I will always be an addict, but helping people helps me stay clean. I pay my bills, have my own home, I bought a car, and my second grandbaby is about to be born.”

Cline says she owes a lot to the people who never gave up on her. “Susan Kendrick [Director of Emergency Services at Highlands ARH] was one of those people. I’d seen her husband at the clinic he had at that time and met Susan about ten years ago. And she did everything to help me and to help me get clean. She never stopped.”

Cline hopes families and friends won’t give up on the addicts in their lives even though they too have been hurt and damaged by the situation. She says people who love an addict must know not to give up on the addict. She advises not to push addicts into treatment and try not to be negative with them.

“Most addicts want out, but they’re scared. Any change is hard, and getting and staying clean is really hard. Don’t enable them, and do not give them money.”

Cline is part of the ARH program, Reverse the Cycle, and is a member of the team of recovery coaches. The coaches are in long-term recovery and provide different types of support for individuals. Coaches share their experiences to assist others in beginning and maintaining recovery.

Peer Coaches can refer patients for residential or intensive outpatient treatment, medication for Opioid Use Disorder, Harm Reduction, and Sober Living. Coaches can also connect patients to community support for clothing, food assistance, employment, legal services, relapse prevention, money management, parent support, social skills, and self-help groups.

Tara Dewees, ARH System Coordinator of Peer Recovery Services, says, “The Reverse the Cycle Program began in 2020 with our Whitesburg and Hazard facilities and has now expanded to 9 of our hospitals. What is unique about the program is that our peers are able to meet the patient where they are, sometimes that may look like sending the patient to inpatient treatment, and sometimes that can be connecting the patient to harm reduction.”

Anyone can visit a local ARH Hospital ER for more information. The program is available at the following ARH hospitals and regional medical centers in Kentucky: Barbourville, Harlan, Highlands, Mary Breckenridge, Middlesboro, Paintsville, and Whitesburg. The program is available in West Virginia at Beckley ARH Hospital and Summers County ARH Hospital.

Cline is also an Overdose Survivor Outreach Program (OSOP) coach. “If someone has come in because they have overdosed, they can be in the program. I follow up with them for 90 days in the community. I meet them for lunch, offer any help they need to stay alive, and I make sure they have Narcan. If someone has overdosed, there’s a higher chance that they will again. If they decide to try outpatient treatment, I meet them there for support or help them fill out the admission papers, whatever they need.”

“Andrea has been with the program since it launched in Highlands, and she is always one to go above and beyond for her patients. From September 2022 till October 2023, our Highlands Reverse the Cycle program has seen 943 patients through Peer Recovery Services; 294 of those patients were referred to some type of treatment. I am very thankful for the work that she puts into the program,” comments Dewees.

Two of the people Cline has helped get into treatment are now interns at ARC. In June, Cline made 22 referrals to treatment, and 19 of those people went.

Cline says, “We need more coaches. There are two open positions at Highlands posted right now.”

“I’ve been there and just want to help others see that getting out is possible.”