4/23/2021, 6 a.m. . Courtesy Photo
Baltimoreâ More than 43,000 Marylanders sought crisis intervention for substance use and mental health through 211 Maryland in 2020. The nonprofit organization is responding to this need by partnering with Rx Abuse Leadership Initiative (RALI Maryland), an organization committed to ending the opioid crisis in Maryland, to reignite the statewide âStop the Stigmaâ campaign to support those with opioid addiction while raising awareness of the National Prescription Drug âTake Back Dayâ on April 24, 2021 in Maryland. Marylanders can opt-in to receive opioid-related text messaging support by texting MDHope to 898-211, and to request a free medication disposal bag.
âAs the central connector to health and human services statewide, we saw a spike in opioid-related calls for help last year and preliminary data for 2021 suggests even more people will be in crisis this year,â said Quinton Askew, president
Michelle Siri, executive director of the Women’s Law Center of Maryland said ‘It seems to be hitting women across all sectors, just in different ways. But of course, it is hitting those women who were already economically disadvantaged the hardest.”
It’s no secret the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected women. Of the 1.1 million people who left the workforce in the U.S., 865,000 are women. According to an analysis by the National Women’s Law Center, before the pandemic, women held 77% of jobs in education and health services. They now account for 83% of the jobs lost in those sectors.