DENVER — As Denver grapples with record overdose and alcohol-related deaths the chief executive officer of a local treatment center shares what some consider to be a controversial take on the cause.
STEP Denver is a peer-to-peer residential treatment program for men in the LoDo district.
Paul Scudo, CEO of STEP Denver, wants people to know help is available today.
“We can provide same-day intake. There are no costs. We understand you are coming with nothing,” he said.
His urgency is genuine and comes through lived experience.
“I suffer from the disease of addiction. I could not stop drinking and using drugs, and overtime I watched myself lose everything: a wife, jobs, family, my money. I became a felon. Ultimately, I lost my home and lived on the streets for two years,” he said.
Every month, he contacts 44 low or no-cost treatment programs. He says right now there are 138 open beds in the metro, including 23 at STEP Denver.
Those numbers are consistent with multiple recovery centers Denver7 reached out to, which reported operating at 70 to 80 percent of capacity.