People involved with the Angel Programs in Louisville -- all volunteers and all people in recovery -- carry messages of help, hope, and healing to people in crisis. Louisville is a Demand Treatment! Partner.

"It's called 12 Step work," said Mike Barry, director of Angel Programs. "We're not affiliated with a particular 12 Step organization, but our angel visits are consistent with AA's 12th Step."

Two Angels visit hospital emergency rooms and trauma centers at the request of health care providers, family members and friends, or patients themselves. The Angels talk about their experience, strength, and hope. They also present a list of options and offer guidance.

"It's one of those hard things to explain unless you've been there," said Barry in a recent segment on Louisville TV station WLKY. "Helping somebody else helps you stay sober at the same time, because you're freely giving what was given to you freely." (The entire segment can be viewed at the Angel Programs website.)

Research by Dr. Richard Blondell, formerly of the University of Louisville, showed that 59 percent of those visited by Angels were abstinent once they left the hospital, versus 44 percent who received a brief intervention and 30 percent who were given usual care. At six months, 49 percent of people who received Angel visits had initiated treatment or AA/NA, versus 15 percent of the brief intervention group and 10 percent of the usual care group. These results were published in the Journal of Family Practice in 2001.

Most referrals for Angel visits come from University of Louisville Health Care. Treatment providers such as the Healing Place, the Morton Center, and Intervention Resource Center help train Angels. Other partners include Family and Children's Counseling Services, Home of the Innocents, and the Kent School of Social Work at University of Louisville.

For more information on Angel Programs, please contact Mike Barry at mike@angelprograms.org or 502-357-1973.