A mom of three young children, Craig resident Tanisha Young, 29, recently lost her dad, and in past times in her life, that loss would have given her an excuse to abuse drugs to numb the pain and stress.

But Young has been in recovery and sober since 2021 and uses the techniques, insights and coping skills she learned with assistance from counseling and treatment at Porch Light Health in Craig.

“I’m super proud of myself because it’s been constant work of being aware, making sure my mental health is where it needs to be, being honest with myself and having people around me to support me,” Young said.

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“I want people to know it’s a super supportive place,” Young said of Porch Light. “I never felt judged. It’s an open place for people who need help. I felt really accepted, welcomed and supported all the way through. It changed my life.”

Porch Light Health, formerly known as Front Range Clinic until spring 2023, is located in an unassuming brown building at 390 Yampa Ave. one block south of downtown Craig. The clinic provides outpatient care to people with opioid and alcohol disorders as well as counseling to help with lasting behavioral and physical health.

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For some 80% of the patients, the clinic provides MAT, or Medication Assisted Treatment, to help people ease off drugs and begin a healthier lifestyle and sustain sobriety. The clinic provides in-house and same-day detox assistance and MAT to help with withdrawal and cravings.

The Craig clinic is unique in that it offers same-day walk-in appointments for people with substance abuse issues, explained Tracey Wall, physician assistant. The clinic provides mental health services including individual and group counseling, psychiatric care and intensive outpatient treatment both virtually and in-person.  

The location also offers a free, public family support group called CRAFT, or Community Reinforcement for Family Training, to support family members and friends of people struggling with addiction, said Jackie Adams, one of two full-time therapists at the clinic.

Porch Light works closely with The Health Partnership along with other area resource agencies to bolster a person’s pathway to recovery, said Nele Cashmore, recovery program coordinator at The Health Partnership.

“They (Porch Light) provide what I think is lifesaving services for people who live here with substance use disorder,” Cashmore said. “It’s especially critical in rural areas to have a clinic like this that not only provides those services but has amazing providers who care for people.”

Area professionals hope more people will learn about the offerings at Porch Light, especially in Moffat County, where the substance use disorder percentages are higher than the state average, Wall said.The Porch Light clinics in the Yampa Valley assisted 315 people during 2023, including the MAT treatments available to adolescents, Wall noted.

“People don’t talk about MAT out in the open, in general, the medications that help with withdrawal, curving cravings or help with mental health and the transition off of a substance,” Cashmore explained.

The Porch Light clinic is considered a “low-barrier” facility meaning they have little to no waitlists for services and can help people even if they do not yet have insurance. Patients are connected with our community resources that provide assistance to sign up for health care coverage. The clinic also provides services for people addicted the methamphetamine, the opioid Fentanyl or with Hepatitis C, Wall noted.

Young struggled with addiction at various times in her life since having a C-section delivery for her first child at age 19. She was in physical pain, had little support during that huge life change and was surrounded by an ex-partner and other people using drugs.

Young utilized suboxone as part of Medication Assisted Treatment twice in her life to fight drug addiction. She fought back from a relapse that occurred in Grand Junction when her two youngest children were out of town for a summer visit. She had obtained a Percocet pill laced with Fentanyl that led to another downward spiral.

Now, Young said she is doing “really great,” is remarried, works as a brewery kitchen employee and continues counseling with Porch Light for support to maintain her sobriety. When she emailed a photo of herself with her three young children, she noted, “three perfectly good reasons to stay sober, among many.”

The mom of three tells people there is always some driver to inspire sobriety.

“If it has to be someone you love, then you do that until you figure out how to do it for yourself also,” Young said of the work necessary to battle addiction. “I went to a lot of outpatient meetings with other addicts, learning about why people continue to use. Mental health is a big reason why people use in the first place, and some people don’t even realize.”

Sal Martinez is another Craig resident who credits Porch Light with helping him stay sober and in recovery for more than two years after serious drug abuse. Martinez had experimented with drugs at a young age growing up in California, and his drug abuse problems spiraled when he was prescribed Oxycodone pain medication after an appendix removal and painful neuropathy nerve damage from undiagnosed diabetes.

Martinez said he came to Porch Light in January 2022 when his “life was falling apart” during a relapse after going to an in-person rehab center elsewhere in Colorado.

Now Martinez, 43, attends a weekly support group and receives monthly MAT shots to assist his recovery. He works full-time as a mechanic in Steamboat, is married for 17 years and cherishes life with his 10-year-old daughter. The family bought a house in Craig in the spring.

“I feel like I’m alive for a reason,” Martinez said. “One thing I would like to tell people is if you are struggling, there is help. There is hope out there.”

Porch Light Health has clinics across Colorado and New Mexico including a part-time clinic at 1306 Lincoln Ave. Unit D in Steamboat that is open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesdays and at 150 W. Jackson Ave. in Hayden, open 8:30-9:30 a.m. Thursdays.

For more information, visit PorchLightHealth.com.