Cafe in Worcester helps recovering heroin addicts

WORCESTER (MyFoxBoston.com) -- Heroin is a statewide drug problem getting out of control. Massachusetts State Police say troopers responded to 21 deadly heroin overdoses in the first week of March alone.

One Worcester spot is aiming to help addicts turn their lives around.

From the street corners of Western Mass. to a Worcester cafe, Carlos Echebarria has come a long way.

Carlos got sober five years ago with the help of the Hector Reyes house treatment program and their new restaurant run by recovering addicts called Cafe Reyes. He's now a barista at the cafe.

It took Louis Torres years to kick the habit, trading heroin for help, and now a chef's jacket.

"I felt ashamed and stuff. I didn't know how to accept myself, so it was pretty hard," Torres said. "When I was young, I grew up with parents that wasn't that great. So I started using by the age of 18. And I kinda lost myself for a couple years."

Thousands have been swept up in state's deadly heroin epidemic.

In 2013, there were 978 overdose deaths statewide, and 112 in Worcester County. The numbers for 2014 are expected to surpass that.

Law enforcement and the state's top executives are working on ways to combat the crisis. A meeting of the governor's opiod crisis working group was held at Quinsigamond College on Tuesday.

But are they near a solution?

"Is it more treatment? Is it more transitional programming? I think there's a whole spectrum of things we have to do," said Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito. "Obviously once someone is addicted we need treatment so they can recover and then remain in recovery and free of addition. But on the front end we need to do far more with prevention.""

For Carlos and Louis, the answer is in the kitchen and behind the coffee bar of Cafe Reyes.

"It's been a blessing. It turned my life around. I'm here. Who would have thought I would have been working in a cafe?" Echebarria said.

"It makes you feel better about yourself," Torres said. "Like you've accomplished something."

Cox Media Group