For years, Porter County has had a drug battle on its hands.
In fact, Coroner Chuck Harris has called the county a “heroin highway” that is 321 percent above the national average for heroin use.
The Frontline Foundation is trying to change that.
Founder and Executive Director Amber Hensell-Hicks says they are “here for the long haul.”
Frontline Foundations was founded in 2007 and is a certified addiction services outpatient treatment provider with a mission to serve those 18 to 38 years old who are suffering from alcohol and drug abuse while also providing an effective treatment and recovery support system.
Hensell-Hicks said there were many reasons why she decided to get involved.
“I had experienced the struggle of alcohol and drug addiction within my own family and I felt the one thing that was always missing was a stronger spiritual component as well as the arts,” she said. “It’s proven curriculum that we can say this works.”
That curriculum, in addition to support through recovery workshops, peer-to-peer group sessions and individual treatment with certified substance abuse counselors and program coordinators, includes music and the arts.
Hensell-Hicks said more than 70 percent of her clients identify themselves as artistically inclined.
“When our clients don’t have to be here, they want to be here,” she said. “We can get the court to order them to be here, but we have clients who tell us we can’t kick them out of here. When we see clients coming back long after they’ve been treated, that’s what we’re about.”
One of those clients is Anthony Estinosa of Portage who said he has come back a couple of times since graduation.
“When I got into the trouble, the court gave me the option to go here and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made,” said Estinosa, who felt a connection with the spiritual component of the program, although he adds that the art program was helpful, too.
“I’m not really an artsy person, but I like the idea of expressing myself through art and I was encouraged all of the time,” he said, noting that he has been “doing great” because of the program.
The art and music program at Frontline Foundations grew in April 2014 when they opened The Conduit at their Chesterton location that is devoted to arts programming and a place to host their peer-to-peer groups.
“It’s an alternative outlet for those seeking recovery and it’s a way for us to encourage each other in artistic ways,” she said, standing among the walls filled with framed paintings, drawings, and mosaics created by clients, as well as a stage with a drum set and guitars.
“Almost everything here has been donated, including our use of this space here,” Hensell-Hicks said.
The foundation recently centralized locations in Chesterton and LaPorte, two donated spaces, and did not to renew leased space in Valparaiso.
They are hoping for donations to fund a van to help bring clients to the locations.
“There are treatment providers that are out there but one thing that continues to be an issue is lack of funding. Transportation to treatment continues to be a problem,” she said.
Hensell-Hicks said there were 12 clients at a recent meeting, but only two drove themselves.
“When someone needs artistic recovery, we want to be able to go get them,” Hensell-Hicks said.
She says that future plans for Frontline Foundations also include an interactive music gallery that will debut at their Hooked on Art Festival on Sept. 27 in downtown Chesterton.
“This will be our fourth year hosting the festival and we will have access to a couple thousand people, to give a message of hope to families and share our clients’ work,” she said.
Chief Probation Officer for the Porter County Adult Probation Office Stephen Meyer said the way that the way that offenders come to Frontline Foundations is through an evaluation and conversation with the offender.”
“All cases that come through our courts that involve a substance abuse issue go through the Porter County Alcohol and Drug Offender Service (PCADOS), a state-certified substance abuse program,” he said. “They will be evaluated and recommendations made, and that’s mostly for first-time offenders or those not at an addiction level. If they need treatment, there are a wide range of treatment programs in the county, and that depends on geographic location, transportation, where they’ve been in the past.”
He says there are a number of facilities where offenders receive treatment, such as Porter Starke Services, Fresh Start, Care Counseling and Frontline Foundations.
Porter County Prosecutor Brian Gensel said that there aren’t statistics kept at the county level on the success rates of substance abuse recovery programs, but he says that the Frontline Foundations program is one that is working.
“I know the Frontline people and my opinion and from what I’ve learned anecdotally is they are doing a great service and being effective,” said Gensel.
Heather Augustyn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
