Gov. Hochul says $192 million from opioid settlement fund will be allocated to addiction services
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Two and a half years of counseling and treatment to turn around a lifetime of abuse and addiction.
That's been the road to recovery for Tyrone Lewis.
The 48-year-old told Eyewitness News were it not for the counselors and programs at Argus Community in the Bronx, he might not be alive today.
"Harbor House helped me to develop coping skills for me to enter back in society without having to use drugs or alcohol again," said Lewis. "Also making me a better man."
On Monday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul came to Argus Community with a message of hope for Lewis and the thousands of others like him.
Gov. Hochul stated that $192 million from the state's opioid settlement fund will go to organizations like Argus to help them help others by reducing the staggering number of opioid deaths.
"In New York, just from 2014 to 2021, 27,000 people," said Gov. Hochul about the crisis. "That's enough to fill half of Yankee Stadium."
Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson also stressed the importance of mitigating this staggering number.
"Our country leads in opioid overdose deaths - deaths that are preventable," said Gibson. "I need everyone to understand this work is about prevention."
Because of his addiction and the damage it has done to his life, Lewis has lost touch with his 34-year-old daughter. It's a relationship he hopes to rebuild in the next few months.
"I'm about to transition out, about to get my own apartment soon," said Cynthia De La Rosa, who, too, is part of the Argus Community. "It's going to be a shared apartment when I'm in a place called Falcon House 2 that they are going to help me with my apartment."
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