Rehabilitation Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Recovery Advocacy Day At Capitol Offers Guidance, Hope

West Virginia is one of few states seeing a decline in overdose deaths.

Tuesday was Recovery Advocacy Day at the West Virginia Legislature. The capitol rotunda was filled with smiling faces, clear heads and hopeful hearts. The goal was to identify areas related to treatment, prevention and recovery efforts and lobby for impacting legislation.

Deb Harris explained the “what and how” of her addiction.

“Mostly pain pills and alcohol. But I did it all,” Haris said. “It started out as recreational use and fun, some rebellion at a young age and it just escalated and before I knew it I was too far in.”

Now 14 years sober and in continuing recovery, the Charleston wife and mother of four hit her so-called “rock bottom” when her life as a mother was jeopardized.

“I had actually gotten my kids taken away and gotten them back and realized that I had no idea how to live or raise a family, so I had a relapse,” Harris said. “I had a return to using and I woke up one morning, three months after that and asked God for help and have been clean ever since.”

Harris said she was rescued both by God, and one of the hundreds of West Virginia recovery facilities, many on display in the capitol.

Joe Deegan is the public policy chair with the West Virginia Association of Addition and Prevention Professionals. He said he was there in support of legislation like the patient brokering act that cuts down on unscrupulous treatment center “middlemen” who seek profit over providing help. He said he was also anxious to see results from the study authorized for a statewide count and analysis of West Virginia’s homeless population.

“We need to really study what the homelessness problem is in the state,” Deegan said. “Several counties, Wood, Cabell and Mingo, are really anxious about proliferation of beds in their communities, and then, they have some homelessness. So, we really need to get in the weeds and say what’s really causing that.”

What really helps short term recovery become long term sobriety? Experts like Joe Deegan sais you don’t leave your final treatment stay or stint without a detailed plan.

“When you finish, you have to have a plan, you have to have a follow through. If you have a plan for up to a year, there’s a high end for people that stay in recovery,’ Deegan said. “If they even get five years, it’s almost like you never had the addiction, because you end up in a way of life that you enjoy. You will want to do it. It’s not like you’ve got to do it, you’ll want to.”

Harris and so many others here said more people should understand that drug addiction and alcoholism are not conditions, they are certified diseases, medical illnesses.

“Substance Use Disorder is the disease that doesn’t make a person a bad person, they are sick,” Harris said. “Don’t look down on someone because of their illness, because they’re sick. Offer them hope, offer them love, offer them support. Let them know that you care about them.”

Harris and Deegan said West Virginia is one of few states seeing a decline in overdose deaths, countering those diminishing fatalities with new sober lives, all remaining in recovery.

Jefferson Day Report Center Launches New Art Therapy Program

The Jefferson Day Report Center in the Eastern Panhandle is launching a unique art therapy program for its clients.

The center helps those charged with non-violent offenses, and identified as high-risk, high-need individuals, to be reintroduced into society through programs such as drug treatment and group counseling.

The center is the only nonprofit day report center in the state, and one of the few that provides services that can be billed to insurance.

Executive Director Kelly Franklin said the new therapy program helps clients express their feelings and reflect on the meaning of the drawings, paintings, and sculptures they create.

”Together, we search for common themes with the client that may be influencing their thoughts and their actions,” Franklin said. “And through exploration, the art therapist helps the client better understand their emotions, and they provide tools to help them cope with future stress.”

Franklin started offering art therapy at the center after looking into a study involving a similar program during her doctoral research at Liberty University.

“I was introduced to a pilot study that was conducted inside of the prison system with prison inmates,” Franklin said. “And through that study, it concluded a remarkable improvement in mood, decreased depression, and improved stabilization and socialization skills, which is huge for day report populations who are recently released from incarceration.”

The Jefferson Day Report Center plans to expand the program to assist juveniles alongside adults in the near future. It is also accepting donations of art supplies. Those interested can donate at the center’s headquarters in Ranson, located at 121 W 3rd Ave, or contact the center at 304-728-3527.

How Many Historic W.Va. Buildings will Benefit from Increased Tax Credit?

During a special session of the West Virginia Legislature in October, lawmakers passed a bill that makes redeveloping historic buildings in the state more viable, financially. The bill had widespread support from both sides of the aisle, but some are concerned it doesn’t go far enough.

The state historic rehabilitation tax credit was put in place as an incentive for individuals, developers, and property owners to take dilapidated, historic buildings and bring them back up to snuff — rehabilitating them into apartments, businesses, or community spaces…

Just like the Charles Washington Hall in Jefferson County.

What Rehabilitating Historic Buildings Could Look Like

The City of Charles Town took advantage of the state historic rehabilitation tax credit a few years ago to help rehabilitate the Charles Washington Hall in the city’s downtown area. At the time renovations began, a 10 percent tax credit was in place in West Virginia. The credit provides dollar-for-dollar reductions in income tax and corporate income tax liability for historic rehabilitation projects.

But the new legislation bumps that tax credit to 25 percent — though, it doesn’t go into effect until December 31.

A new auditorium space in the Charles Washington Hall in Charles Town, W.Va.

The Charles Washington Hall, originally built in 1874, is now home to an auditorium, a soon-to-open restaurant featuring Appalachian cuisine, and a small, organic, locally-sourced grocery store. Renovations were completed earlier this year.

The grocery, called Bushel & Peck, is the main presence at the location.

“It’s a beautiful building; wood floors and ceiling molding are really striking to me,” Abby Beavin, Assistant Manager at Bushel & Peck, said, “and all the beautiful wood detail. It has kind of its own challenges, like making a food safe facility in a historic building, but I think it’s a beautiful, beautiful space, with beautiful natural lighting.”

Bushel & Peck moved into the space at the beginning of October, so the market is still getting situated. Beavin hopes it will help revitalize downtown Charles Town and create a tighter community.

“It’s a difficult time to keep the main street businesses alive,” she noted, “You see a lot more of them boarded up in small towns than you do opening a new business. So, it’s a risk, but, you know, we’re out here and we’re gonna see what happens and see what works and what this will mean for Charles Town.”

W.Va. Legislature Increases the State HRTC

The West Virginia Community Development Hub has become involved in the push to grow and revitalize historic districts in West Virginia.

Last year, the Hub traveled the state to bring awareness to community members and lawmakers about the benefits of increasing the historic rehabilitation tax credit.

Jake Dougherty, Executive Director of Wheeling Heritage, was heavily involved in that campaign.

“We’ve seen people and developers choose Winchester, Virginia, over Martinsburg; Saint Clairsville, Ohio, over Wheeling; Ashland over Huntington; Waynesburg over Morgantown; it’s happening all across the state, and that’s revenues and that’s a stronger tax base, and that’s more jobs that aren’t happening in West Virginia, and they’re right across the border,” Dougherty explained.

A couple versions of a bill to increase that credit were introduced during the regular 2017 state Legislative session, but it wasn’t until a special session in October that advocates like Dougherty got their wish.

House Bill 203 increased the state’s historic rehabilitation tax credit from 10 to 25 percent, making the credit more competitive with West Virginia’s bordering neighbors like Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania — BUT the bill also has a $10 million cap, or limit, per project and an annual, overall statewide cap of $25 million — unlike some neighboring states like Virginia, which have uncapped incentive plans.

Democratic Senator Glenn Jeffries, of Putnam County, was the lead sponsor of a Senate version of the bill during the 2017 regular session.

He said, while he’s relieved something finally passed, he’s concerned the caps will discourage developers — especially the annual $25 million cap.

“I don’t want to see us hinder potential investors to come to West Virginia, invest their dollars, and [then] take it somewhere else,” Jeffries said, “If you keep the cap on it, that just pushes your application, and it’s first come first serve; somebody walks in there on day one, and the first three application takes up that $25 million, you gotta wait until the following year.”

Jefferies said he understands the reason for the limits — uncapped incentives could become a financial juggernaut in an already tight state budget if too many developers take advantage of the program all at once. But Jeffries argued it’s a long, step-by-step process to get approved and complete a renovation, so it wouldn’t hit the state in the way opponents fear. He plans to introduce amendments to the bill during the 2018 session.

The National Register of Historic Places has just over 700 historic buildings registered in West Virginia — like the Charles Washington Hall. To-date, 175 in-state projects have used the 10-percent historic rehabilitation tax credit.

Can Rehabilitating Historic Buildings Help W.Va.'s Economy?

West Virginia’s historic rehabilitation tax credit was put in place to encourage developers and property owners to take some of the state’s crumbling, historic structures and get them back into working order. The credit is also supposed to encourage the creation of local jobs while repurposing the underutilized buildings.

But the state’s tax credit is 10 percent, and a coalition of architects, economic developers, and others say that’s not enough to encourage the community development they’d like to see. That same group is now traveling the state looking for support as they prepare to ask state lawmakers to increase the tax credit.

Here at the old Shenandoah Hotel, which first opened in downtown Martinsburg in 1926, a group of community members – interested residents, city and county officials, and some state lawmakers from the area have gathered to hear about the potential benefits of increasing West Virginia’s historic rehabilitation tax credit.

The credit provides a 10 percent dollar-for-dollar reduction in income tax liability for renovation projects on buildings registered with the National Register of Historic Places. The owner is then responsible for the rest of the project costs.

That’s Lisa Dall’Olio. She’s an architect with Grove & Dall’Olio Architects based out of Gerrardstown in Berkeley County and she spoke at the Abandoned Properties Coalition sponsored forum.

Dall’Olio says an increase to the credit could mean an increase in the number of tourists who visit the state, looking for charm inherent in old buildings. But it could also mean an increase in state and local tax revenues.

“This is a perfect example of how tax credits, an increased tax credits could make somebody jump and do this project,” she said.

Dall’Olio and the Abandoned Properties Coalition would like to see state lawmakers bump the credit from 10 to 25 percent during the upcoming session to match neighboring states.

Nicole Marrocco is the Abandoned Properties Coalition coordinator for the West Virginia Community Development Hub.

“We’re in the Eastern Panhandle; we’re wedged between Maryland and Virginia, which are two states that have a higher tax credit, so we have the 20 percent tax credit in Maryland, the 25 percent tax credit in Virginia, and both states are seeing more development than we are here in the Eastern Panhandle,” Marrocco explained.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation tracked state tax dollars brought in by a similar federal tax credit between 2002 and 2015. Tax revenues in Virginia, where the state tax credit is 25 percent, were significantly higher during that time than in West Virginia—some $103 million compared to West Virginia’s $5 million. While those numbers are based on the study of a federal credit’s impact, Marrocco believes the state tax credit played a part in those revenues too. And West Virginia could see more money flowing into its coffers if lawmakers increased the rate.

Berkeley County Delegate Saira Blair attended the forum and says she sees it’s potential.

“It’s gonna be something that’s put on the table, I can guarantee that,” Blair said, “I don’t know if it’ll go through this year, because we’re looking at thousands of other things; our Finance committee is gonna be swamped, but one more thing to put out there is great for our state.”

Newly elected Senator Patricia Rucker, a Republican from Jefferson County, says she’s excited about the prospect of what increasing the historic tax credit could do for the state.

“We have historic areas all over the state, and actually, there are parts of our state which are so beautiful, people don’t even know,” she noted, “It’d be wonderful to increase our tourism dollars by letting this revitalization help all the areas of the state.”

Rucker says she would back legislation increasing the tax credit if it came before the legislature.

Abandoned Properties Coalition Meetings:

Wheeling
Wednesday, January 25, 8:30 – 10:30 a.m.
The Stone Center
REGISTER

Fairmont
Thursday, January 26, 1 – 3 p.m.
The Gatherings
REGISTER

Huntington
Wednesday, February 1, 4 – 6 p.m.
The Keith-Albee Theatre
REGISTER

Charleston
Thursday, February 2, 5 – 7 p.m.
The Art Store
REGISTER

Miners Worried About Losing Black Lung Benefits Through ACA Repeal

At the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Clinic in Scarbro, oxygen tubes dangle from the noses of three miners slowly pedaling on stationary bikes. All of these men have black lung – a disease caused by breathing in coal dust. Over time, the dust coats the lungs and causes them to harden. Hard lungs don’t easily expand and contract, and that makes it difficult to breath.

“You try to get air in them, and they don’t want to cooperate with you as they did before,” says retired miner James Bounds, speaking with great effort. Not every coal miner gets black lung, just as some smokers don’t get cancer. But for those who do, Bounds says, the disease is devastating.

“There’s no cure at all,” he says. “It keeps getting harder and harder until one day, I guess, you take your last breath and they won’t expand for you no more.”

Lester Burnette bikes at the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Clinic in Scarbro.

Bounds is one of about 38,000 miners and widows currently receiving black lung benefits – compensation for the physical damage he sustained while doing his job. It took him four and a half years to get approved, despite the fact that his lungs are so bad he has to stop moving to talk.

But now the qualification process is supposed to move faster. The Affordable Care Act includes special provisions that make the process of getting black lung benefits easier for coal miners. If the ACA is repealed, gaining these benefits could become much more difficult, effectively harming a group of people President Donald Trump has promised to protect.

Debbie Wills coordinates the black lung program forValley Health primary care system. She says that prior to the ACA, it was almost impossible to qualify for the compensation benefits. Coal companies pay the benefits, and also pay into a federal trust fund that pays when coal companies can’t. Wills says theprocess was arduous for miners.

“Coal company lawyers would doctor shop around the country and find two, three, four, five, seven doctors to say, ‘Yes this miner is disabled, but it’s not because of black lung,’” she says.

The Affordable Care Act includes something called theByrd Amendments. One shifts the burden of proof — instead of miners having to prove that mining caused their black lung, the coal companies have to prove that mining didn’t.

“You still have to prove the 100 percent disability, which is hard,” says Wills. “But if you can prove that, and if you’ve worked 15 or more years or longer in the mines, then you’re entitled to a presumption that your disease arose from your coal mine employment.”

Another part provides lifetime benefits to a dependent spouse who survives the death of a miner, if the miner had been receiving the benefits before death.

If the ACA is repealed without a replacement, cases that were approved after the ACA went into effect could be reopened, leaving the miner or surviving spouse vulnerable to losing the benefits. And, the burden of proof may shift again, making it difficult for applicants to qualify.

Earlier this month, both theHouse and theSenate introduced resolutions to preserve the Byrd Amendments from a broader ACA repeal. Rep.Evan Jenkins (R-W.Va.), an ACA opponent, introduced the measure in the House.

“I am a firm believer that Obamacare is already in a death spiral and desperately needs to be fixed,” Jenkins says. “While we are going to work to improve our health care system, I feel strongly about my resolution to make sure that the presumption relating to black lung is contained in whatever is the end product of this work this year.”

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from the Benedum Foundation, Charleston Area Medical Center and WVU Medicine.