By Steve Bertel
A local non-profit initiative is making great strides in helping those throughout the Treasure Valley who are struggling with drug addictions.
We first profiled Nampa Narcan in our November/December, 2023 issue, the group founded by Nampa resident Jake Evans, whose motivation in helping addicts comes from fighting his own demons years ago.
Jake grew up in Martinsburg, West Virginia, a town about an hour away from Washington, D.C., and had well-to-do parents – his father was a prominent dentist; his mother held three presidential appointments, from both the Bush and Trump administrations. “So I was raised with lofty expectations, instilled with the desire to be everything to everyone,” he pointed out. “In high school, I was a varsity football player, a jazz band member, a show choir participant, and the leader of my own band. Academically, I was an honor roll student. … I appeared to have it all together but, beneath that facade, I was slowly self-destructing.”
That behavior had begun in his early teens and was steadily growing worse over the years. “Within a single week, I had tried cocaine, LSD, mushrooms, and ecstasy. I even had developed a crippling 30-pill-a-day habit of 30 milligrams of Percocet” – that he bought from street-level drug dealers or friends who worked at the area’s pharmaceutical manufacturing plant. “In fact,” he admitted, “most of my money went for drugs.”
He was attending law school at the time, was his university’s s student body vice president, had a full-time job, and was excelling as a National Model United Nations delegate. So he kept his habit hidden. “But I couldn’t sit through a 45-minute class without needing to get high,” he said.
Then, Jake started receiving wake-up calls in his life. Most notably: a female professor, herself a recovered addict, convinced him to enter a rehab facility – a six-month sobriety program in southern California, under the auspices of Greg Laurie, the nationally-renowned Harvest Crusades founder and senior pastor of the Calvary Chapel-affiliated Harvest Christian Fellowship … and then, a close friend died from an overdose. “When I heard the news, I broke down,” Jake recalled. “This was a friend of mine, someone with whom I used almost daily. It could have easily been me; most likely it would have been. I decided at that moment that I had been given a second chance at life, and I was determined to use it to help others.”
Even though his prayers of helping him overcome his addiction had been answered, God had yet another plan. “The young woman who worked across the street from the corporate office where I was working mentored me. Prior to that, I had never spoken to her. She was very beautiful; so beautiful, I figured she was way out of my league,” Jake said. But today, that woman is his wife. And the mother of their two children. “What’s more, had I not met her, I would not have become a Christian. And if I had not become a Christian, I would have never come to Nampa,” he said.
In his mission to assist those struggling with opioid addictions, Jake helped establish the Nampa Narcan Initiative in August, 2023. Its name comes from a) the city where it was “founded” and b) the legal nasal-spray drug that helps reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, bringing a person from a life-threatening overdose state to a more manageable withdrawal state. In fact, many first responders now carry Narcan (also known as naloxone) dispensers with them, to immediately administer to those suffering from an opioid overdose.
The group initially began by partnering with both the Nampa Fire Department and Nampa EMS – to help walk those in drug crisis situations through their usually three-months-to-a-year (or, sometimes, longer) recovery process, connecting them with recovery specialists and resources who could help them, despite any geographic, financial, or clinical challenges they may face. “The goal is to get them into effective, full-blown treatment plans,” Jake said.
He spent a decade specializing in life coaching and crisis intervention. “I’ve worked with Fortune 500 CEOs and I’ve worked with people crawling out from underneath bridges,” he stated. He also served on Nampa’s Opioid Settlement Board, and co-chaired the Substance Misuse and Mental Health Committee for the Healthy Impact Nampa Coalition.
Fast forward some two years – to today.
“Our partnerships have now grown to include the Nampa Police Department, the Nampa Family Justice Center, the Caldwell Fire Department, Canyon County EMS, Canyon County Probation and Parole, and St. Luke’s Hospital, among others,” he pointed out. “We are no longer just Nampa-centric; we’re now actively expanding into Ada County and other areas.”
What’s more, the Initiative – whose efforts have been recognized across the state – is now under the umbrella of Project Hope Helps, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit philanthropic organization that is helping Nampa Narcan achieve long-term sustainability and, more importantly, to be able to help those on their recovery roads for years to come. Project Hope Helps was formed in January of this year “… and is now the administrator of the Nampa Narcan Initiative, handling all private donations, corporate donations, grants, even partnerships with local facilities and businesses,” Jake explained. Its board of directors is made up of federal employees, law enforcement personnel, caseworkers, and those familiar with addiction recovery. “We have some really strong heavy-hitters helping us,” he added.
Stephen White handles the philanthropic duties. He is Jake’s longtime friend and a fellow recovered addict, who also has years of treatment-industry experience. “We are looking to organize galas, silent auctions, and other fundraisers,” Stephen said. “Because we need to continue providing treatment and recovery avenues for people who can’t afford to pay for them, the people who fall through the cracks, who don’t have $5,000 or $10,000 to enter a big, private treatment center. Most of [those who can’t afford to pay] go on a waiting list, and never get the help they need. So we want to lead them through the entire recovery process – including finding employment – because, at the end of the day, it’s not a bowl-of-soup-and-a-blanket type thing.”
Education is also important, especially when it comes to family support, and families understanding what their loved ones are struggling with. Or, as Jake explained, “We are helping families navigate the recovery process as well. Many of those we work with are between the ages of 16 and 25. So, if their families are not educated about the disease and are not aware of the potential pitfalls, chances of recovery are not in their favor when they return to their home environments. So having family members who understand the disease, and become governed by logic rather than their emotions, is extremely important to their loved one’s recovery process.”
Statistics are shocking – and heartbreaking. National studies show, on average, more than 40% of pills authorities confiscate contain lethal doses – 2 milligrams or more – of fentanyl. Hence, the more pills an addict consumes, the greater the chance of an accidental death. Plus, it’s now fairly common for law enforcement agencies across the country to find cocaine or meth or other drugs they have confiscated to be cross-contaminated with potentially deadly amounts of fentanyl. Or very young children have died from unknowingly consuming illegal drugs their addicted parents have carelessly left lying around the house.
In Oregon, studies show fentanyl-related overdose deaths nearly quadrupled between 2020 and 2022, jumping from 223 to 843. Oregon’s fentanyl overdose death rate is reportedly among the fastest growing in the nation. Here in Idaho, in 2023 alone, Department of Health and Welfare officials reported 264 deaths related to opioid overdoses, accounting for 68% of all drug overdose deaths in the state that year.
Jake explained that, of the number of people Nampa Narcan has helped over the years – more than 400, since the Initiative began – “some 68% have had prior law enforcement engagements and 45% have been on probation or parole.” And, perhaps the most startling of all: “Thirteen percent of those we have helped are under seventeen years of age.”
Despite all the bad news, there is also good news. Success stories. Addicts whose lives have been changed by the work of Nampa Narcan. Like the man who went from facing a ten-year prison sentence to serving probation to now serving on a medical health board. “He’s giving his time back to the community,” Jake said. Or the father of five – himself an addict – whose wife died as a result of a fentanyl overdose. His substance abuse caused him to lose custody of his five children. Today, through the help of Nampa Narcan, he’s now completely sober and has not only regained custody of his children, but is also diligently working toward a career in the medical profession. Or the man who, after being homeless for some twenty years and battling addiction for almost as long, was recently united with his now-18-year-old son – a son he never knew he had. “So, not only are we helping those through the recovery process, we are also helping to restore and reunite families,” Jake happily pointed out.
If you or someone you know needs drug recovery help, you can reach out to Nampa Narcan by going to their website, nampanarcan.com, by emailing Jake and his team at info@nampanarcan.com, or by calling them directly at 208-960-6092. To donate, you can go to the Project Hope Helps website, www.projecthopehelpsinc.org.
