2018/08/08 Council Agenda Packet

I am Morgan Dotson,the owner and director of M&I Recovery Services, LLC, a nonprofit organization I founded on the belief that every human has the ability to recover. We have been in this field for the past nine years, and own and operate 14 recovery homes,two dedicated to veterans, in Snohomish County. We offer job readiness training to help recovering addicts get back to work. Our 2808 Hoyt location will offer training in the mechanical aspects of the construction industry as a part of our job readiness program,with plans for another that focuses on a mechanics program. Our location at 3602 Colby Avenue has a focus on Graphic Arts. Our recovery homes and job readiness programs work in tandem with the clinical recovery services. We also train people to become recovery coaches. The recovery coach program, a successful assistance program, obtains grants from state and federal sources such as SAMSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services). These grants help local communities, such as ours,with a holistic approach to help addicts turn their life around and rejoin the community. It is important to note that state and federal agencies are providing grant monies to increase access to services,while the current moratorium and proposed options can only result in decreased access. Because I worked in this area for so many years, and am involved in many aspects of recovery, I have a great deal of experience working with addicts. Over the past six years, I have seen the success of treatment programs that offer medically assisted recovery services and I firmly believe they offer the best chance of success. Such treatment, in conjunction with other counseling and recovery services such as job readiness,puts people back into their community as a wage earners and taxpayers. This community needs to offer more access to recovery services, not less. More access to clinical services will reduce the number of current addicts on our streets, including downtown Everett. The current moratorium, and the proposed restrictive options regarding clinics, are the opposite of where this community and government needs to go to make our communities safer. In my experience,those addicts in a recovery services clinical program want safe streets,just like everyone else, and work for safer streets by influencing those exhibiting undesirable behaviors. The clinical recovery services are not the problem. They are the solution. To be successful,people in recovery need access to recovery services where they work and live. This includes downtown Everett. I live and work here in Snohomish County and in this City. I urge you to provide leadership to this community and accept the planning commission's recommendation to remove all restrictions on the location of recovery services and clinics. 1 - PDx\133406\241756\V NI\23637590.1