May 23—Aaron Landreth's low-voltage cabling company was just recently awarded "commercial retailer of the year" with Dish Network for its installation of satellite TV in prison systems throughout the entire state of Nevada.

But Landreth's true passion lies in the opening of Sutter and Yuba Addiction Resource Center, or the "ARC," a local addiction resource center located in Yuba City.

"I have family that have owned facilities like this in Southern California, and I've had my own struggles with addiction in the past," said Landreth. "When I was going through my issues personally, there weren't a whole lot of clinical directions to take. ... None of them fit where I needed to be, which was to maintain my work and continue providing for my family. There seemed to be this gap in help and I felt like we needed to do something to get more care here."

Sutter and Yuba Addiction Resource Center stands out from others with its flexible hours and scheduling that's tailored toward the average working adult.

Despite the rise in overdose cases and substance abuse disorders reported at both the state and county level, the ARC is one of the only local outpatient facilities to accept private insurance and offer group counseling.

It took Landreth around 15 months to get the business fully licensed and certified, not to mention his search for a quality crew of experienced individuals. The ARC team now features two major local assets in the world of addiction recovery: Todd O'Berg and Jaime Garcia.

O'Berg has 22 years worth of experience in his field having previously worked as the clinical director of treatment for Pathways in Marysville as well as being the substance use navigator for the California Bridge program at Adventist Health/Rideout. The California Bridge program is a statewide initiative from the Public Health Institute in Oakland that aims to broaden access to evidence-based care for those struggling with substance abuse disorders. O'Berg's position dealt with addiction counseling and resource referrals for those admitted into the emergency room.

As ARC's program director, O'Berg now gets to fine tune his skill sets and focus on his passion for the job.

"My love and my heart is in the treatment setting," said O'Berg. "Substance abuse issues are huge here, probably bigger than most people realize. ... The overdose rate in our community when we started the Bridge program was, at one point, five times the state average. And in just four years at the hospital I had around 2,500 patients."

O'Berg's statements lineup with statistics gathered by the California Health Care Foundation for opioid deaths by county in 2019. According to these numbers, Yuba County occupied the highest tier of fatalities along with 13 other counties, the majority of them in the northern part of the state.

The curriculum O'Berg focuses on is called "Living in Balance." This program, in addition to utilizing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques, takes a broader approach at substance abuse management by viewing each person as a whole. Establishing boundaries or living within one's means seems to be the program's central theme, and this can include anything from curating a budget to applying for jobs or tips on maintaining healthy relationships.

"It's about life and how we can help these folks find that balance that's so key when you're in recovery," said O'Berg. "This program has been around for many years and is recognized throughout the United States."

Garcia, ARC's lead councilor, also worked at Pathways for eight years before transferring over to Ampla Health to assist with its suboxone program. She, like many others in the rehabilitation field, had struggled with addiction in the past and was inspired to help others overcome these obstacles.

Both Garcia and O'Berg agree that medication-assisted treatment (MAT) paired with counseling seems to be the most effective form of therapy for their clients. Currently, the most commonly abused drug they encounter is in fentanyl, followed by methamphetamine, and the most at-risk population are youth and young adults. One of the contributing factors Garcia cites is the popularity of opioid drugs in pop culture and references to its use by young celebrities.

"All the songs that our kids listen to are like 'perc this, perc that' or 'I knew it was fake but I ate it anyway,' I hear these songs and I'm like 'oh my God these poor kids,'" said Garcia. "So then they go out and try to find these pills and end up taking fentanyl. There have even been cases where fentanyl was found in THC gummies off the street, so it's very scary right now."

O'Berg added that the introduction of "tranq-dope" or xylazine has also become a major concern. Xylazine has traditionally been used by veterinarians to tranquilize large animals such as horses or cows. Because xylazine is a non-opioid agent, it is resistant to typical revival methods such as Narcan which can cause complications especially when mixed with other drugs.

"A lot of the older opioid users, they typically know what they're doing," said O'Berg. "But those in an experimental phase or trying things out for the first time, they have no idea what they could be getting themselves into."

While the youth are progressively becoming one of the primary demographics for substance abuse disorders and overdose rates across the state, ARC is currently only able to accept clients age 18 or older. Lines of communication are open 24 hours a day and O'Berg said he invites anyone to call in for questions or referrals.

The ARC officially opened its doors to the public on Monday and plans for a ribbon-cutting ceremony are in the works for June. ARC's office and treatment center is located at 1002 Live Oak Blvd., Suite A, in Yuba City. For more information, visit sayarc.com or call 530-593-1098.