Fairmont and Clarksburg tackle poverty and addiction

Jeff Davisson, a retired bus driver from Clarksburg, didn’t turn away people who didn’t have 50 cents for a ride.

Before retiring in January, he often gave rides to the homeless and low-income families.

Although he was compassionate, he yelled at people when they pretended to put money in the till. He preferred to just be told.

“It’s not a big deal,” he said. “And I’m sure they’re embarrassed. It’s hard for someone to say, ‘Hey, I don’t have 50 cents.’”

Mountain State Spotlight visited Harrison and Marion counties as part of this year’s election coverage. Reporters have been asking West Virginians about the biggest challenges facing their communities that they would like to see public officials address.

Residents often raised the unmet needs of people who are not housed and people with substance use disorders. Although the region has a higher prevalence of health care providers and a more diverse economy than many parts of West Virginia, residents still can’t get the health care they need at affordable prices or find high-paying jobs.

Davisson, 66, knows what it’s like to struggle financially. Although he was making about $80,000 a year driving tractor-trailers across the country, he lost that job after nearly 20 years. His parents were also ill, so he moved into a mobile home in his hometown and got a job driving the city bus.

Standing in the parking lot outside a Bridgeport doctor’s office on his way to an appointment, he said his prescription drug prices are now $800 a month. Driving the bus gave him chronic back pain. He also has heart problems.

Residents of Harrison and Marion counties described problems with the health care system, including a lack of area specialists and services for children with autism.

Just off Jerry Dove Drive, the White Oaks Business Park is home to businesses ranging from utilities and law firms to hotels and fast food restaurants. Developers bought the land in 2008 because of its proximity to the FBI’s Division of Criminal Justice Information Services, the United Hospital Center and oil and gas drilling sites.

Davisson has even tried to find low-paying work stocking shelves at chain stores like Kroger and Walmart, but he doesn’t think they’ll call him back because of his age.

“If you’re educated and you’re in the medical field and you went to school, and you’re a nurse or a doctor or a lawyer, you’re pretty well set around here,” she said. “But if you’re just someone like me, trying to find a part-time job, I can’t find anything. No one will even talk to me.”

Hard work for low pay

On North Fourth Street in Clarksburg, Elwood’s Pizzeria has only been open for a year and a half, but a sign inside says it’s already been voted the best pizza in town.

Two workers, Aaron Starr and his daughter Cassidy, who live in Stealey, Harrison County, are making pizza for a good wage.

But previously, Starr said she struggled to make ends meet while essentially running a local chain pizzeria and working 60-hour weeks.

And when her 16-year-old daughter Cassidy worked in construction, she said she was paid just $9 an hour, even though it was hard work lifting bags of concrete and nailing roofs. She said male workers, even those her age, made more.

Between working the cash register and folding pizza boxes, Aaron Gallo, the owner of Elwood’s, who lives in Reynoldsville in Harrison County, said residents are struggling with rising utility bills.

The homeless population and mental health

A few doors down from the pizzeria, in the Glen Elk area of ​​Clarksburg, on the edge of downtown, the Clarksburg Mission, a faith-based shelter, serves the homeless and people with substance use

Executive Director Desi Underwood said in an email that as of 2020, the shelter housed about 50 people and had few rules. But when COVID hit and the shelter forced them to stay inside, the people with active addiction left.

After the 13 people who stayed sought help with substance use disorders at the site, the Mission changed its approach and began requiring residents to follow a highly structured 18-month program, which it involved Bible studies, life skills training, and more help. These residents must remain sober to participate.

Some struggle with other challenges such as mental illness.

Ultimately, the workers help connect them with housing.

“What we as a staff realized was that the way we were running the mission before was hurting the people we were helping the most,” Underwood said. “We also realized that there really is no recovery outside of Jesus Christ.”

Some homeless people stay out. Other homeless people camp outside the city.

Both Fairmont and Clarksburg residents said they were concerned about the prevalence of homelessness in their area, which they said is often tied to drug use. Problem drug use can contribute to homelessness.

Clarksburg Police Chief Mark Kiddy said the police department expects the city to use some of its share of opioid lawsuit settlement funds for caseworkers. He said police officers already refer homeless people and people with substance use disorders to programs that can help, such as the United Way.

But he said once people are housed, the police work should end and caseworkers should follow up with help, such as making sure they get to appointments for addiction or psychological treatment .

He said police officers issue citations if people are camping on private property and will arrest them if they refuse to leave.

“The biggest problem we have is these people who want help. You have to follow some rules,” he said.

Back at his doctor’s office, Davisson said his sympathy for the homeless only goes so far because he’s concerned about downtown crime, though he said the more aggressive and recent response from the police have helped.

“I’ve never met a stranger, but I already worry about everything, even being on the street or going anywhere. I look at where I am,” he said. “It’s just sad.”

He added, however, that TV news can blow things out of proportion and acknowledged that this could contribute to his fear. With less time spent socializing, he spends a lot of time watching election coverage on channels that regularly focus on crime.

“I shouldn’t,” he said. “But I’m very much into this election issue.”

Economic diversity

The region has diversified its economy more than other areas of the state that have historically been based primarily on energy extraction, with opportunities in places like UHC, White Oaks, the North Central West Virginia Airport and the technology park I-79.

Just south of Fairmont, about 30 minutes north of Clarksburg on Interstate 79, drivers pass the sprawling tech park, where companies employ workers in fields like cybersecurity and software development, and where the antennas of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are visible from the interstate.

But Jim Estep, president and CEO of the High Tech Foundation, said the park needs to hire out of state, although employers encourage West Virginians who have moved out of state been moving home.

He said West Virginia has historically been too dependent on the fossil fuel and timber industries, while tech careers are skyrocketing across the country.

“Anyone who grew up in West Virginia who wanted to pursue something in this area inevitably had to leave the state,” he said.

Some people note the lack of higher education levels among West Virginia residents and assume residents don’t care about education, but Estep sees it differently.

“What it means is that there are almost no jobs in the state that require a lot of education after high school,” he said.

The need to change attitudes towards addiction

On the Fairmont State University campus, nursing student Steven Bly said he notices addiction is a big problem in the area, but said law enforcement shouldn’t be locking people up for a illness

He said decriminalization would help because it would stop the demonization of people who use drugs and they would feel more accepted.

In downtown Fairmont, outside a homeless center for people experiencing homelessness or mental health issues, people who work in addiction recovery services were handing out naloxone.

Samantha Burgess, who works for Valley HealthCare System, said transportation is a big issue in helping people with substance use disorders.

Naloxone can save a person’s life, but getting follow-up treatment is a challenge. Buses around Fairmont make few stops on the fringes of the area, so getting to local treatments like detox and inpatient therapy remains a problem. Then, when a person needs to find a recovery residence, also known as a sober home, where they can live with other people in recovery and continue to learn lifestyle changes, local recovery workers and volunteers have to transport them to places like Morgantown.

“It’s time-consuming, but that’s what we do,” Burgess said. “We do it because we have to have it.”

Burgess stressed that recovery homes must embrace all recovery approaches, including 12-step programs and medication-assisted treatment. For example, faith-based treatment may not be right for everyone.

Maxine Harker, team coordinator for the Marion County Rapid Response Team, said some don’t realize treatment is available.

“They think it’s a big, long, drawn-out process and they can’t get help because there’s so much stigma around it,” she said. “No one wants to ask for help.”