The dynamic between my father and me was distant and unpalatable on so many levels—not the least of which was our contrasting physical statures. He was over 350 pounds for as long as I remember and I, having topped out in adulthood at 5’ 6” and 130 pounds, was always minuscule in his presence. Instead Read the Full Story >>
Public Health
Charles Town Comes to Terms with the Loss of Justice Taylor
In the early hours on October 5, as the morning sun emerged through the clouds on an overcast fall day, the body of Justice Taylor was found in the loading area at the rear of Jefferson County Community Ministries (JCCM) on West Washington Street. Slumped in his wheelchair, it was a harsh end to a Read the Full Story >>
Observer Contributor Co-Develops Memorial Site for Opioid Victims
If you or someone you love has lost someone to the opioid crisis, then it’s worth your while to check out "All Our Hearts"—an online memorial project developed in part by Observer contributor and Jefferson County native Lena Camilletti. Read the Full Story >>
Wellness Center at WVU Medicine Celebrates 20 Years
The Wellness Center at WVU Medicine Berkeley Medical Center (2000 Foundation Way, Martinsburg) is celebrating its 20-year anniversary. Since opening its doors in the fall of 1999, it has doubled in size and expanded services to meet the needs of the community. The Center, located in the Dorothy A. McCormack Center on the Berkeley Medical Read the Full Story >>
Substance-Use Disorder & Person-First Language: Why It Matters
How we perceive and treat people with substance-use disorder has a direct impact on access to treatment and long-term recovery for this community. The language we use to identify this disease is crucial in addressing solutions for people experiencing it. Read the Full Story >>
Understanding Mental Health by Tearing Down Some Walls
Diagnosing mental health disorders isn’t one of those easy professions, like, for example, brain surgery or rocket science. Enviably, those two specialties have clear and visible parameters for measuring success and failure, whereas defining “mental health” is fluid and debatable, at times dependent on functional and social norms. The diagnostic manual that defines criteria for Read the Full Story >>
A Deep-Dive Into Anger, Abuse, and Resurrection with Debut Author Timothy J. Hillegonds
A Chicago native, author Timothy J. Hillegonds stepped foot in Shepherdstown for the first time in 2012, and found himself smitten from the start. Seven years later, he readily calls Shepherdstown his second home, and by getting to know West Virginia’s oldest town as intimately as he has, he’s also become familiar with the Mountain State’s unfortunate connection to the nationwide opioid epidemic. Read the Full Story >>
Shepherdstown Farmers Market Benefits Entire Community with SNAP Program
According to the Farmers Market Coalition (FMC), the USDA partnered with them to provide eligible farmers markets and direct marketing farmers with the equipment necessary to accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits—formerly known as the Food Stamps Program. Read the Full Story >>
The Sobriety Hype
What does it mean to be sober? Do you have to be serious all of the time? What about fun—can you have any fun? There is a stigma surrounding addiction, recovery, and sobriety that has not been fully dealt with in our society. If, as a society, we are unable to talk about something, then Read the Full Story >>
Finally: A Comprehensive Program for Substance Abuse in the Panhandle
Mountaineer Recovery Center, targeted to open in September 2019, will be the first in the state of West Virginia to provide this level of treatment, according to someone’s needs all in one place. Read the Full Story >>
Graduation
When someone was leaving rehab—we called it graduating—we would all gather in the great room for a goodbye ceremony. We would sit in a circle on dinged-up metal folding chairs, all of us a little too fidgety, a little too caffeinated, feeling something that was hard to pin down—some mix of worry and jealousy and Read the Full Story >>
The Me in the Mirror
After waking up, there is always the question of what comes next—what life might lie beyond the life you’ve left behind. — Leslie Jamison When I got sober four months ago, I began to wake up. With each passing day, my world came more sharply into focus, and the experience of assessing what surrounded me was Read the Full Story >>
Amendment 1: Government in Reverse
West Virginia Amendment 1, stating that “this Constitution does not protect the right to abortion,” is what I would call “backwards family planning.” We all agree that our goal is to bring children into the world who are wanted and able to thrive. We also agree that government is not just there to protect property, it’s there Read the Full Story >>
Eastern Panhandle Empowerment Center Expands and Evolves
The Eastern Panhandle Empowerment Center (EPEC), which houses the only shelter for victims of violence in the area, has exponentially expanded its reach and impact over the years. Founded in 1977, it served less than 100 victims in its first year. Today it serves 1,400 victims annually. Read the Full Story >>
Drug Take Back Day Gets an Upgrade in Shepherdstown
Across the U.S. every year, National Prescription Drug Take Back Day lands in cities and towns with the goal of providing a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse of medications. Read the Full Story >>
