Patients recovering from opioid use disorder face a number of life challenges like finding employment, reuniting with family members and getting access to food and housing.

Thanks to New Season counselor Sidney Smith, many Biloxi Treatment Center patients were beneficiaries of food donations collected by the Second Baptist Church in Houston, Texas. 

“It was rewarding to be able to bless our patients with the food,” Smith said.

“My biggest smile came from the children during the food pick up,” Smith reminisced. “I helped families carry bags of food to their cars. The children held what they could in their little arms helping to carry as much as they could.”

Smith and the other counselors at the treatment center telephoned the patients to offer them food.

A fellow New Season Treatment Center counselor, Dean Jensen, recalled the experience of one of his patients who financially struggles every month to make ends meet. 

“He doesn’t eat much because he cannot afford a whole lot of extra expenses per month,” Jensen said. “He made the comment that at times he will skip two or three days of eating just to make his food supply last him the entire month.”

The grateful patient said this food giveaway couldn’t have come at a better time. “Sadly enough, he will not go to the local food banks because he feels there are others out there that need it more than he does,” Jensen noted. “It was difficult hearing him say this because he is as thin a person I have ever seen for someone his size.”

Another patient who benefited from the assistance agreed that the food drive came at the perfect time. “It was needed so bad. I have no one to depend on and the food was able to help me during a hard time. It was very heartfelt blessing,” the patient said.

Perhaps the patient who needed the food most — a single mom who receives minimal financial assistance— “was extremely grateful,” her counselor Shelbi Lewis, said.“I hope we can continue to support our patients in this way,” Lewis said.

Cynthia Luna, a regional director for New Season Treatment Centers, said the day was filled with “lots of tears, and gratitude, and great stories.”

We are proud to bring happy tears and positive outcomes to our patients, both in treatment and in life. If you or a loved one are looking for treatment for opioid use disorder, contact us today at 1-877-284-7074.