Greater Pinebelt Community Foundation donates $5000 to help those conquer drug addiction

HATTIESBURG, MISS. – A generous $5,000 donation attempts to remove small financial roadblocks for residents seeking help with drug addiction. Thursday morning, the Greater Pinebelt Community Foundation presented a $5,000 check to the “Jeffrey’s Fund.”

“I just feel, we just need to keep somebody [alive] long enough to know that there is another way,” Nichole Cooper, an addiction survivor said with tears in her eyes. Cooper says that she won her battle with addition after a spiritual encounter. “I literally went into a church and just started chunking bottles full of pills at the altar,” Cooper said. “Then I just went home and didn’t do any more drugs.” Cooper admits it took her several attempts before she could finally break her addiction. Cooper went on to mention that one of the many reasons why many people struggle to break their addiction is because they lack the financial support needed. “Providing people with treatment and financial support is so important,” Cooper said. “Because when you are sick and you are coming off of drugs, you can’t see a way out. You can’t see a better life, and that’s what keeps people going back into addition over and over again. Longtime advocated, James Moore knows the same story all too well after his son battled with addiction for nearly 10 years, and passed away from an overdose in 2015. “Ten-percent of our population has a substance abuse problem, and out of that ten-percent less than ten-percent are actually getting treatment,” Moore stated. A percentage Moore wants to bring down through “Jeffrey’s Fund,” which is a fund he helped start in the memory of his son (Jeffrey Moore). According to Moore, Thursday’s $5,000 donation will help save more lives. Currently, Jeffrey’s Fund gives assistance to Clearview Recovery clients with medication expenses not covered by insurance companies, and it also provides initial move-in rent deposits for clients moving into the Oxford House sober living homes.