Staff Writer
HOULTON — Houlton is a service center of Aroostook County. Each person providing services is a direct reflection of that particular business that is why the Link For Hope Coalition is reaching out to area businesses to become more educated about who they are hiring to represent their company.
On Tuesday, Nov. 13, the Greater Houlton Chamber of Commerce and Link For Hope will hold an Eggs n’ Issues breakfast titled “It’s Not My Problem” at the Community Health and Education Center at the Houlton Regional Hospital. From 7 to 9 a.m. businesses will learn about the Link For Hope mission and how they can become more proactive in recognizing the signs of drug use in their business. Cost is: for chamber members $8 and for non-members $10 for a complete breakfast.
“We want to do some education because that’s a huge part of Link For Hope’s mission, so everybody is aware of the problem,” explained Trudy O’Bar, spokesperson for the Link For Hope. “That’s why we titled this ‘It’s Not My Problem.’ If your not educated it’s very easy to think that this problem is not affecting you, when in actuality, it’s everyone’s problem in the community. It’s affecting businesses in our community today, both large and small.”
O’Bar said that one of the most common myths about drug users is that they don’t work. She said on the contrary, it’s the complete opposite. The problem is that employers can’t read the signs of who is using and who is not. She said that’s where they come in.
“In order for us to fix this, we need every facet of the community involved,” she explained. “We need to include business as part of the solution. It’s a misconception that people that are users aren’t working. They are working, so they’re the ones that are taking your order when you go to a restaurant, they’re the ones that are providing services to you in our community.”
O’Bar said that part of what the Link For Hope is hoping to achieve is to come up with a community-wide response to drugs and of she wants to stress that businesses are a large part of the community and they want people to understand what’s going on and that everyone needs to help do something that will fix the issue.
“They need to be aware of how this is affecting their business — when they’re interviewing people, when they’re training people — and what they need to provide for services to people as well as an employer,” she explained. “This is an issue that every community is struggling with. That’s something that’s very important for people to realize.
“We’re not alone, we’re not the worst, we’re the same as other communities — everyone is dealing with this,” she said.
O’Bar said there are multiple factors of how drug use affects individual businesses and she said they intend to touch base on those factors during the forum.
“The face of that employee is who the public sees, so you want to have a good face there,” she added.
For more information on how to attend the forum, contact Lori Weston or Cyndi Scott at the chamber at 532-4216.
