Organizations teaming up to address opioid use in South Valley

VISALIA, Calif. (KFSN) -- It's a fresh start for young people in the South Valley.

Nine Tulare Counties groups including Schrank's Clubhouse, the Visalia Rawhide and Tulare County Mental Health, are coming together to fight the ongoing opioid crisis through the launch of the Clean Slate Program.

"Fentanyl use has been up over 150% over the last two years with overdoses," says Schrank's Clubhouse Co-Founder, Gwen Schrank. "We want to make sure that our families, our youth, and our community know that they are important and we are not just going to stand here and just watch."
The program is set to debut on Wednesday.

It will include county-wide outreach efforts and at every Rawhide home game, resources will be available.

The Clean Slate Program takes a three-step approach: Through awareness with educational programs, prevention with early intervention and recovery focused on youth-specific support groups.

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"Our three-prong approach is to not only include our youth in our program because when they get to help create it, they're more likely to participate in it," Schrank said.

Schrank says they want to give hope to youth who are struggling and to break barriers.

"There's going to be a lot of peer support," Schrank said. "Peer support is the opportunity for peers to help other peers. People who have been through it helping other people who've been through it."

Schrank says eventually, they hope to expand their reach to other parts of the South Valley.

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