The Dimock Center in Roxbury is receiving $1 million in federal funds to support its substance use treatment programs.
The center, which was founded 160 years ago as the New England Hospital for Women and Children, now serves thousands of people annually in the Greater Boston area through "comprehensive and culturally competent" health and behavioral services.
The $1 million in funding for the center will specifically be allocated toward launching Boston's first men’s clinical stabilization program, where residents will be able to detox while having access to health and recovery services on the same campus.
“[Within] the city of Boston, there are roughly 5,000 people a year looking for support,” said Dimock Center President and CEO Dr. Charles Anderson. “Without this sort of [financial] support, people would be continuing to cycle in and out of something where we know that there's a real chance for survival.”
"Without this sort of [financial] support, people would be continuing to cycle in and out of something where we know that there's a real chance for survival."Dr. Charles Anderson, Dimock Center president and CEO
Anderson was joined by U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley and other Dimock staff at a roundtable event Wednesday to announce the funding. The money comes from a community project funding program included in a federal spending package passed by Congress and President Joe Biden in March. The allocation for the Dimock Center is part of a total $8 million Pressley is unveiling for 10 community projects around the Massachusetts 7th Congressional District.
“The best investment that we can make is in our people, and that will always yield the greatest return,” Pressley said. “As we find ourselves still recovering from layered crises, unprecedented challenges for us as a city, as a commonwealth and as a country — Dimock has met the moment every time.”
Pressley added that addressing substance abuse in the commonwealth is a personal cause for her.
“[My father] was absent during my formative years due to the fact that his substance use disorder — his addiction to opioids — was criminalized, rather than being met with compassion and trauma-informed care,” Pressley said. “We know that that is the story for millions more.”
Anderson cited that the opioid death rate for Black men in Massachusetts increased by 69% during 2020, compared to in 2019.
“Data shows that if you can keep someone in a structured program for 90 days, they're much more likely to be successful on the road to recovery,” Anderson said.
Dave Goss, a current resident at John Flowers Recovery Home, said that he has been able to reach 14 months of sobriety because of the resources offered at the Dimock Center.
“I might begin a job actually at Benjamin Franklin Institute with the instructor who taught me carpentry as his helper,” Goss said. “And hopefully, you know, I am a success story where I end up with my own place.”
