A new addiction recovery service center is open in Hampton, despite a delay in some promised state funding.
The Hampton recovery center, located on Lafayette Road close to Seabrook and Hampton Falls, is the third run by the nonprofit SOS, which also has locations in Rochester and Dover.
SOS director John Burns says they offer free resources to people dealing with addiction, particularly to opioids. Services include peer support groups, counseling, yoga classes, and career and health resources.
“The services are weak in the area in terms of capacity,” Burns says. “So we want to sprinkle as much hope on [recovery center clients] as we can when we see them, and hopefully they’ll stay connected to us at some level.”
The new Hampton center has opened with a tight budget, limited hours and small staff for now, operating largely on donations and local grants.
Burns says they were counting on $100,000 in state opioid response funds. He says the money was approved last fall, but still needs a final green light from the governor and executive council.
The delay has frustrated Burns, who says he worries the state’s opioid crisis receives this kind of slow response due to stigma around addiction.
“We're asking for toilet paper on social media,” Burns says. “There's something wrong.”
State health officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the status of the Hampton SOS center’s funding.
Burns says one priority if and when the money comes through is to offer transportation help for people trying to get to the Hampton center.
It’s in the range of the state opioid response hub, called the Doorway, in Dover – but it’s outside the service area of the Seacoast's public bus service, COAST.
