SAVES: A Crucial Resource for Students Needing Support Builds on Its Recovery Work

The text message still elicits strong emotions for those who have read it.

“Some random stranger called me today and changed my whole life,” recalled Brian Lusk, M.S. ’13, paraphrasing the message.

The text, sent to Student Health Services, came from a Radford University student “who really needed to get help,” recalled Lusk, director of Radford University’s Substance Abuse and Violence Education Support Services, or SAVES as it is commonly known.

“The student had been really struggling with [substance] use, and people had been trying to convince the student to go to detox,” Lusk explained further, “because if they just stopped what they were using, it would have been dangerous. They could have gone through withdrawals and possibly died from it.”

Many people, including the student’s parents, were involved. Amid the tension, Lusk and SAVES Assistant Director Cora Taylor ’09 asked Reed Yearwood, a recovery support specialist, to talk with the student. “It was Reed,” Lusk said, “showing up to talk with someone he had never met and sharing his experiences with the student. It convinced the student to go to detox and stop using in a safe way.”

The encounter demonstrates the power of SAVES, a campus organization that offers programs and services to aid and educate Radford University students in areas such as substance abuse, sexual assault, dating and domestic violence, stalking and bystander intervention. It strives to reduce negative consequences related to substance abuse and/or violence through campus-wide initiatives that address these issues and promote student success.

“I think when most people think of SAVES, they think of the educational requirements, courses that students have to go through when they're coming into university,” Lusk said. “Such as alcohol education, sexual assault awareness, Title 9 regulations and so forth. But SAVES is so much more than that. I see SAVES catching a lot of students that historically, on college campuses, who have fallen through the cracks, so to speak.”

Substance use/misuse is common on college and university campuses around the United States, and it can result in a number of personal and academic problems. The good news is, many higher education institutions, just like Radford, employ the needed resources to build and operate programs that offer supportive and caring guidance.

One particular service SAVES provides is the Radford Recovery Community, which gives students a safe, comfortable environment for recovery so they can better succeed academically, attend to their emotional and physical well-being with trained professionals and connect socially with other students in recovery and allies to students in recovery.

“It’s a safe place on campus for them to be,” Taylor said about the community’s recovery-themed housing, located inside a Radford University residence hall. “It’s a way to put our students together on campus to make sure they are with like-minded individuals.”

Additionally, there is a recovery lounge in Heth Hall. “Students have unlimited access to it,” Taylor noted. SAVES also provides group counseling sessions and SMART Recovery meetings, which are open to everyone.

The recovery community is relatively new and has plenty of room to expand. A recent grant will allow that expansion to happen.

In August, Radford University received $160,277 from the Virginia Opioid Abatement Authority (OAA) for SAVES to extend the recovery program’s outreach and awareness, overdose prevention, healthcare screening and connections. The grant also will be used to implement a “warm hand-off” process and provide support for a new living-learning facility.

Radford was one of 16 entities in Virginia to receive a portion of the $10,961,013 awarded for opioid abatement and remediation efforts. The approved projects, OAA said, “were selected through a competitive process and included a review of proposals submitted by the agencies.”

“This is an opportunity to really help people stay on a path that is going to create a better life and opportunity for them,” said Taylor, who came to work at her alma mater partly for the opportunity to grow the recovery community. “I truly believe that if we help students find their passion and find the things that bring purpose to their lives, they will go out and change the world.”

Taylor's personal connection to substance use recovery adds a deeper layer to her commitment to the cause. The youngest of six, she witnessed her brother's struggle with substance use disorder during his college years. Her own experience and belief in the transformative power of education drive her dedication to helping students navigate this challenging period.

The grant has allowed SAVES to hire more staff members, and it will provide funding for three scholarships.

“Most people come to a fork in their lives with their [substance] use, and the key timeframe is the college age, 18 to 24,” said Lusk, who noted he and Taylor worked at community service boards before joining the Radford staff and have seen the benefits of a supportive university community.

The education and services SAVES provides is a powerful tool toward a better life “because not only can students be in recovery,” Lusk continued, “but they can actually receive an education that is going get them employment, help them truly support themselves and stay on that positive path and keep making those good choices, and be able to strive and be successful.”