HLS 23RS-2052 ORIGINAL
2023 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 112
BY REPRESENTATIVE KNOX
COMMENDATIONS: Commends Odyssey House Louisiana for its mission, growth, and
impact over fifty years of treating individuals with chronic addictions
1 A RESOLUTION
2To commend Odyssey House Louisiana for its mission, growth, and impact over fifty years
3 of treating individuals with chronic addictions.
4 WHEREAS, Odyssey House Louisiana (OHL) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization
5that was established on February 20, 1973, in New Orleans by a small group of committed
6individuals, including its founder and first executive director, Alice "Maggie" Pike; the
7organization traces its roots to the Odyssey House therapeutic community founded in New
8York in 1967 by Dr. Judianne Densen-Gerber; and
9 WHEREAS, OHL is primarily committed to serving Louisianians who cannot afford
10their own medical treatment, especially those who are most vulnerable and at risk, and has
11grown from a small residential treatment program into a robust network that provides
12services across New Orleans and offers programs in cities throughout south Louisiana,
13including Lake Charles and Morgan City; and
14 WHEREAS, OHL is headquartered in its original home in the Tremé/Lafitte
15neighborhood; it is a historic facility that was erected in 1866, at the request of Thomy
16Lafon, to be run by the Sisters of the Holy Family as an orphanage for children displaced by
17the Civil War; after Mr. Lafon's death in 1893, his bequests funded an expansion to the
18facility and services provided; and
19 WHEREAS, after the Sisters of the Holy Family relocated in 1973, the building was
20purchased through community donations and renovated into Odyssey House Louisiana; the
21facility offers a broad range of services including medically monitored detoxing, short- or
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HR NO. 112
1long-term residential treatment, treatment for pregnant women and women with dependent
2children, and sober living; these services are provided in combination with case
3management, housing, and mental health and primary medical care; and
4 WHEREAS, OHL has been recognized for its dynamic treatment model, which
5integrates primary and behavioral health care with an emphasis on addiction by way of its
6federally qualified health centers, and treatment facilities across the country have started to
7replicate this model as a result of its efficacy; and
8 WHEREAS, the OHL Prevention Department, with the support of grant funding, has
9saved thousands of lives through naloxone distribution and training, infectious disease
10testing, and fentanyl test strip distribution; it has also developed radio, podcast, and social
11media content that addresses substance-use-specific issues facing Louisiana's youth; and
12 WHEREAS, OHL opened Louisiana's first sobering center, the Odyssey House
13Louisiana Sobering Center, in 2019; the development was constructed, in partnership with
14the City of New Orleans, to provide individuals with a safe place to sober up and convenient
15access to further treatment, while also reducing the burden they might place on hospitals and
16the criminal justice system; and
17 WHEREAS, after Hurricane Katrina, OHL helped to rebuild health service delivery
18systems in New Orleans, and it remained operational throughout the COVID-19 pandemic
19to ensure that individuals seeking treatment could have access to services; the organization
20continues to expand its capacity to meet the growing need for treatment; and
21 WHEREAS, Odyssey House Louisiana is most deserving of the highest recognition
22for its unfaltering dedication to providing addiction treatment services to at-risk
23Louisianians.
24 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
25Legislature of Louisiana does hereby commend Odyssey House Louisiana for its mission,
26growth, and impact over fifty years of treating individuals with chronic addictions and does
27hereby extend sincerest wishes that it continue to receive the support it needs to carry out
28its laudable mission of service.
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HR NO. 112
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HR 112 Original 2023 Regular Session Knox
Commends Odyssey House La. for its mission, growth, and impact over 50 years of treating
individuals with chronic addictions.
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