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