HAMBDEN TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Daniel Phillips, a KeyBank branch manager, visits Wellbrook Recovery monthly to lead financial recovery discussions — helping clients understand how to manage money.
"When you become sober, your finances can trigger you to your old ways," Phillips said.
Phillips speaks from personal experience.
"It got to the point where I wasn't happy anymore — I was basically using alcohol as a crutch," Phillips said.
Phillips now works to raise awareness about the issue and challenges the perception of whom addiction affects.
"It's not just poor people, it's people who are very established — lawyers, doctors," Phillips said.
At Wellbrook Recovery, a male-only treatment center in Hambden Township, staff members are seeing the demand firsthand, even by opening a new detox facility this month, responding to what its clinical director calls an "incredibly rampant" addiction crisis in Northeast Ohio — one driven largely by alcohol.
"Sometimes it's opioids, sometimes it's stimulants, but we see quite a bit of alcohol, I would say 75% of it is alcohol," Clinical Director Kathryn Dann said.
CDC data shows more than 6,700 Ohioans die each year from excessive alcohol use, placing Ohio in the top 25% of states for binge drinking levels.
"When you have substances that are legal or substances that are thought to be social, it's very difficult when you get past the substance abuse line and into the addiction line," Dann said.
Wellbrook Recovery alumnus Angel Rodriguez described how his alcohol use escalated gradually before he sought treatment.
"My stomach couldn't handle beer anymore — so I had to switch to flavored beer, and then switched to hard alcohol, and then switched to the little shooters at the gas stations," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez is now in recovery and working to encourage others to seek help.
"It's not easy to ask for help — but it's okay to ask for help," Rodriguez said. "I'm able to use my story to help the next person."
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has a National Helpline, a free, confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information service, and can be reached at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
Aug. 28 marked Phillips' second anniversary of sobriety.
Clay LePard is the Ashtabula, Geauga and Portage counties reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow him on X @ClayLePard, on Facebook ClayLePardTV or email him at Clay.LePard@wews.com.
