LAS VEGAS ( KLAS ) — For pregnant women addicted to opioids or stimulants, getting help and getting off drugs can be difficult. Often, they face a myriad of other issues from mental health to homelessness. That’s where Empowered comes in.
Roseman University College of Medicine helps take these women from recovery to resilience. Women like Amani Wilson, who started as a client and is now the program coordinator.
“I needed help,” she said. “This was my only choice. This was my only option.”
Wilson was about five months pregnant and homeless when she heard about the Empowered program from another woman who’d gone through it and decided to give it a shot. She joked about calling her peer support counselor every day, but said having someone by her side made all the difference.
“That was the step I needed to really become involved in the program.”
The program is fully grant-funded and provides specialized care to pregnant and postpartum women with a history of opioid or stimulant use. It is not a detox facility but a place where each woman’s needs are assessed and, through collaboration with other agencies, needs are met.