Paul Hammersley Archives - Neighborhood View

They needed someone to meet them where they’re at. The Bridge did that

July 20, 2022 Madiha Gomaa 2

By Madiha Gomaa In 2016, when Paul Hammersley, founder of Malden Overcoming Addiction (MOA), met Keriann Caccavaro in a recovery coach training, he told her about an idea he had been working on “nonstop” since 2013: A peer recovery center that offers a community support-based environment for people living with substance use disorder. She thought it was impossible. Now, she is a program director at this center. The Bridge in Malden is not a typical addiction recovery center. The facility at 239 Commercial St. doesn’t provide therapy, clinical or health care services. It is a peer-driven model. All peer staff members have lived a similar experience to those they hope to help through this center. Navigating their own pathway, they have found sobriety through fellowships, community, or therapy. Now, they want to help people reach sobriety as they did. “Peer-driven means that it’s all based off of what worked for us; what we try to do is meet our members exactly where they’re at in their sobriety,” Caccavaro said. “We try to support them on […]

Addiction Epidemic Inside the Pandemic: The story from Malden

January 15, 2021 Will Sullivan 1

By Will Sullivan Paul Hammersley, an Addiction Recovery Resource Specialist in Malden’s Health Department, says he sometimes feels as if he’s “working a pandemic during a pandemic.” As a result of economic and emotional stressors exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, more people are dying from drug overdoses nationwide. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that the country was on pace for more than 80,000 drug-overdose deaths in 2020, more than any other year [NYT requires free login]. The majority of these deaths will have been caused by opioids, a class of drugs that includes prescription medications like oxycodone (Oxycontin) and hydrocodone (Vicodin), as well as fentanyl and heroin. According to Hammersley, after only three people died from an overdose in Malden in 2019, that number jumped to 13 in 2020, with five of those deaths occurring in the second half of December. Nearly all overdoses in Malden are caused by opioids. Hammersley said the extended quarantine required to halt the spread of COVID-19 is the primary reason why there’s been an increase in substance use, relapses, and […]