Grassroots recovery group brings hope to Las Animas
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LAS ANIMAS, Colo. — Nearly four years sober from drug addiction, a Las Animas resident is now filling the gap he once fell through by starting a grassroots recovery group in a place where resources are limited.
“It was bad. People were dying in front of my eyes,” said Chris Chavez, who spent much of his life addicted to meth and opioids in Colorado’s Eastern Plains, a region where several counties have overdose death rates above the state average.
Chavez, 49, now leads weekly recovery meetings in his town.
Every Saturday night, a handful of locals gather in a room at RESADA Outpatient, where he hosts the hour-long sessions. He works there as a counselor during the week.
“At least this gives somebody time… even if it’s just for an hour … to stay sober,” Chavez said.
According to attendees, Chavez’s group is the only recovery meeting held after hours or on weekends in Las Animas and across Bent County. Dozens of people have attended his meetings since he started the program in June.
Eastern Plains grapples with high overdose death rates
Las Animas, in Bent County, is part of Colorado’s largely rural Eastern Plains, a 16-county region covering nearly a third of the state.
In 2023 and 2024, the combined average overdose death rate in the 10 Eastern Plains counties with available data was 39.23 per 100,000, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, well above the state average of 29.27.
Statewide, Colorado reported 1,603 drug overdose deaths in 2024. Nearly half (761) involved the synthetic opioid fentanyl, the main driver of the sharp rise in overdose fatalities nationwide.
“Individuals residing in rural areas, including throughout the Eastern Plains, live in smaller communities where stigma and fear of judgement regarding addiction issues can discourage treatment-seeking,” said Dr. Paul Christine, a substance use disorder specialist and researcher at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. “This is why the grassroots recovery group is so important.”
Christine added that recovery groups, like the one Chavez started, help reduce stigma around drug use, connect people to treatment and harm reduction services, and provide a sense of community that counters the isolation often felt by people with addiction.
Leaning into community and finding support
Attendees in Chavez’s recovery group openly share their struggles with addiction, but they also share plenty of laughter and encouragement.One attendee, Perry Horn, is an original member of the recovery group. He said he is fighting to regain custody of his nine-year-old son who is currently in the foster care system.
“I fell back into it ‘cause in December, I lost my oldest son to that fentanyl,” Horn said, referring to his own relapse with alcohol and meth. “That overwhelmed me. I fell back into my old ways. I ended up losing my younger son.”
Horn said he has been sober since February 21, 2025. He thanked the group for their support.
Another attendee, Jesus Lopez, attended the meeting for the first time on the last Saturday of July. He shared he was at a birthday party right before.
“I haven’t been thinking about drinking everyday… until today,” Lopez said. “Instead, I was like, ‘I’m just going to check out this meeting.’ So here I am.”
Lopez, two and a half months sober, said he could’ve easily grabbed a beer at the birthday party, so he sees attending the meeting instead as progress.
“I am so grateful for this meeting. It was perfect timing… perfect place,” he added. “What other meeting could I hit at seven o’ clock on a random Saturday?”
Chavez said he can relate to the people that attend his meetings because he is on his own recovery journey. He fell into addiction at age 15 and experienced homelessness at different times in his life.
“My whole life was torn apart,” he said. “I created a recovery group in Las Animas, so people do not have to travel far to gain community support.”
For over a year, Chavez has also hosted a weekly recovery group 40 minutes away in Lamar, located in Prowers County, where he pays $70 a month to rent the space.
Addressing the overdose crisis and access gaps in the Eastern Plains
Chavez and Christine explained how the landscape and lack of resources can worsen rates of overdose deaths in rural counties.
“The closest hospital is about 30 miles away from Las Animas,” Chavez said. “That could be a matter of life or death for someone who is overdosing.”
Christine explained that rural areas like the Eastern Plains have far less access to harm reduction services compared to urban areas.
“This includes harm reduction agencies that distribute the life-saving overdose reversal medication naloxone and provide equipment for individuals to use their drugs in a safer manner, for example, sterile syringes and drug testing strips to test for fentanyl,” he said. “And perhaps most importantly, help educate individuals about ways to prevent overdose.”
But State Rep. Ty Winter — a Republican who represents seven Eastern Plains counties, plus parts of Pueblo and Huerfano — argued the solution lies in tougher crime enforcement, especially on drug dealers.
“Naloxone is proven to save lives and I am all about saving lives. I do not believe in junkie kits. I do not believe in giving out syringes because to me that’s false empathy," Winter said. “People need help. They need to be off the drugs. They need services. They don’t need us to give them more ability to do and condone.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, syringe service programs help reduce overdose deaths and needlestick injuries without increasing drug use or crime. The programs also help prevent the spread of HIV, hepatitis and other infections.
Christine noted that access to medications for opioid use disorder remains largely concentrated in urban areas.
This disparity is especially concerning given that most drug overdose deaths in Colorado are caused by synthetic opioids, such as illicitly manufactured fentanyl.
He explained that medications for opioid use disorder, especially buprenorphine and methadone, are very effective and can reduce the risk of overdose death by nearly 50 percent.
“Federal regulations restrict dispensing of methadone to federally licensed opioid treatment programs, which are overwhelmingly located in urban communities,” he said.
Currently, there is only one opioid treatment program in the Eastern Plains, located in Lamar.
Type of story: News
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
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