New peer-driven support group comes to Stephens County

DUNCAN - When a person battling addiction walks into the new Oklahoma Citizen Advocates for Recovery and Transformation Association (OCARTA) office on Main Street in Duncan, they can know they will be talking to someone who has been in the same situation they have been. 

“Our main goal is to help individuals who already feel alone because of their substance use and their life choices build back a connection into their community,” said Brandi Vore, Duncan OCARTA executive director. “Our main goal is to help them see that they have a connection with their family, with their friends, their loved ones and to do that by integrating into the community they live in.”

But the purpose is also to stand as a testimony to the community.

“We are also showing the community they live in that we’re not just people choosing to be bad,” Vore said. “We’re sick and we have the right to get well like everyone else. And, as a community, this is a way that you can help those people that are your brothers, your sisters, your family do that. It takes the weight off the clincians. It takes the weight off of churches. It takes the weight off family members too, because we can help alleviate some of that as a peer communtiy, to give them extra support and educate the family members too about even what the disease of addiction is and feel like they not only have another place to call, but they can physically come.”

It is a place people can come without judgment to talk to someone who has been in their shoes.

“Our main goal is to create a place that doesn’t feel like  there’s lab coats  walking around,” Vore said. “We can sit down and just have conversations and you can start feeling normal again, relax and not have to put on a show or pee in a cup.”

It also is helpful with the fact  that those seeking help can come on their own terms.

“You’re not there because someone told you you had to be,” Vore said. “You’re there because you’re going to talk to somebody about how you feel about everything. I think that’s important that we try to help showcase and who we can end up being. We can be mothers, we can be homeowners, we’re taxpayers, we’re voters, we’re advocates. I think it’s important that we show that, too.”

It would be hard to emphasize too much about the importance of peer-to-peer counseling and help. All except one of the staff members is a recovering addict.

“It’s research-backed, obviously, and that’s why it’s funded,” Vore said. “But for me, what I’ve noticed during peer work for over 15 years is the authenticity that comes from one individual having similar experiences as you,” Vore said. “You’re able to help each other becaause I’m able to be with you in that moment. It helps me recognize a portion of my past life, but at the same time, the person that’s currently in that, they are are able to notice that I’m authentically a part of their circle. I can speak the same language, that I can understand that they’re not doing something to be hateful. We use the same jargon and pick up on each other’s nuances about things. You don’t have to walk around on egg shells. When you sit down with a peer that’s walked through that journey, it brings a sense of ease and relaxation because we know what that feels like.”

Stephens County District Attorney Jason Hicks wrote the awarded grant that allowed OCARTA to set up shop in Duncan. He brought the Oklahoma Alliance for Recovery Resources (OKARR) in to help get a program going.

“We are the project lead for the Stephens County opiod abatement project through the Attorney General’s office,” said Amanda Coldiron, OKARR director. “D.A. Hicks is the one that wrote the grant and we were brought in to implement it. We’re not the experts in what OCARTA does, so that’s why OCARTA is here. We know they do an excellent job in Oklahoma City and that’s on a much larger scale in the metro area and they just do a fantastic job. Everything they do is through the lens of a peer and that’s why they are successful. We know a lot of things, but if you’re not their peer, you don’t know all the things.”

The project started in December 2024, but it is now up and running and ready to help those in need. 

Besides one-on-one counseling there are several group meetings as well. They provide many services including anxiety support, recovery residences, transportation needs, youth mentors, adult mentors. They also have classes like creative writing and anger management.

“We’re not here to give handouts,” Vore said. “We’re here to give a hand up.”

For more information, go to www.ocartaoklahoma.org, email: ocarta@ocarta.org, visit their Facebook page OCARTAOKC or call toll free, 866-848-7555. The Duncan office is at 831 W. Main St., Suite B.