Offering help

Let’s Get Real has become

part of the Warm Handoff Project with Mercy Health and the Cleveland Clinic.

If someone abusing drugs or alcohol ends up in the emergency room, hospital staff can call Let’s Get Real and the organization can send a peer support specialist within two hours.

From August 2017 to the end of May, Let’s Get Real has made 280 of those responses, Eberle said, including six during the final week of June.

For some people, help means a ride to a treatment center or a meeting with a probation officer or getting a new birth certificate or identification card.

Up to 90 percent of people working the organization use Medicaid, so there is paperwork to file.

For their family members, it means Let’s Get Real offers a listening ear when someone wants to talk.

People struggling with addiction need holistic help and may need it multiple times, Heller said.

“And we’re here for support all the way around,” Butler said.

As it transitions into Lorain, Let’s Get Real will maintain a presence in Vermilion to be available in Lorain and Erie counties.

Its office is at 3509 Liberty Ave.

Board members said anyone who wants to learn more about Let’s Get Real or addiction and recovery, may call 440-963-7042.