Save the Michaels of the World, Inc. was established in June of 2011 as a small kitchen roundtable action group, to bring attention and awareness of the devastating effects of opioid medications after the death by suicide of 20 year old Michael David Israel.

Avi and Julie Israel decided they didn’t want to see other families suffer the loss of a loved one. The journey started with an interview with a Buffalo News reporter who told Michael’s story. That story got more attention from TV stations. Doctors, patients, parents and the population as a whole are not aware of the danger of opiate addiction. We wanted to find a way to address the overprescribing of pain medications such as hydrocodone and others.
 

Program Director, Recovery Center
Save the Michaels of the World, Lockport

Emily joined Save the Michaels in the summer of 2023 as the Clinical Supervisor of the Lockport Recovery Center and recently transitioned to Program Director. Emily struggled with substance use, mental health, eating disorders, and self-harm since middle school.  She received her first mental health diagnosis in 9^th grade, linked with her first therapist shortly after, and was in and out of treatment centers during her college years.  After teaching 4^thgrade for two years, she had the opportunity to make a career change after a conversation with her bandmate, the Executive Director of a local outpatient SUD program.  Emily fell in love with the work, embraced the responsibility of using her story to guide others, and started work on obtaining her CASAC.  After experiencing the loss of a close family member, Emily again returned to substance use, anorexia, and self-harm.  In the fall of 2018, Emily returned to treatment and spent 3 months in a residential treatment center, actively seeking to understand her mental health, relying heavily on the therapy of Internal Family Systems (IFS). Emily currently has over 5.5 years of sobriety from alcohol and weaves the empathy and understanding she has for her personal journey into her interactions with her participants, peers, and employees. At Save the Michaels, Emily loves learning from and with her employees, growing in her self-awareness, and building rapport with those who come in to utilize the recovery center.

 

‘Narcan — it gives people a second chance’: New Narcan vending machine to save lives 

https://www.wkbw.com/news/local-news/northtowns/narcan-it-gives-people-a-second-chance-new-narcan-vending-machine-to-save-lives

There is a new way of fighting the drug overdose epidemic to save lives. A Narcan vending machine is now installed outside the Kenmore Fire Department.