WORK RECOGNISED: Ed Zarnow, Louise Hawke, Nicole Herridge, Donna Picker, Michelle Campbell and Kathy Wilson.
LYNDON Outreach Service was recently recognised for its work with drug and alcohol addicts when they received a finalist nomination at the National Drug and Alcohol Awards.
The annual awards recognise the work and achievements of organisations in the drug and alcohol-related industry.
Lyndon Outreach Service program manager Michele Campbell said it was their “soft entry” approach to helping people battling drug and alcohol addictions and support families of those sufferers.
She said it was wonderful to have their work recognised on a national level.
“The soft entry approach of getting into the community and being a part of it is quite a unique innovation, most groups don’t have resources to do it,” she said.
“We’re quite flexible in how we deliver the program.”
Ms Campbell said one of the ways they target at risk people is by becoming a part of local groups and gaining their trust as someone they can talk to about their drug and alcohol addictions.
Families of drug and alcohol addicts are also targeted through Lyndon’s work in the CRAFT (community reinforcement and family training) program.
“It’s working with families of those that drink or take drugs for them to communicate better with the users and improve everybody’s outcome,” she said.
Ms Campbell said they only started delivering the American-based program in Orange recently and it is already giving families of addicts the tools they need to help cope and communicate.
nadine.morton@ruralpress.com