‘We Don’t Want to be Forgotten’: Recovery Providers in NYC Feel the Strain Amidst COVID-19 Stressors
By: Anna Lucente Sterling
Osiris Mercado was one of the lucky ones. He made it into the Phoenix House rehabilitation center just a week before they closed their doors to new clients in March. When the coronavirus first hit the city, no one, except staff, was allowed in and out of the drug and alcohol rehabilitation center.
“If I would have been out there, the chances are really high that I would have been probably dead,” Mercado said.
Mercado started selling drugs when he was a teenager and eventually started using the products himself, he said. The drugs evolved from marijuana to cocaine and eventually to heroin. It spiraled until he was no longer a dealer—only a customer.
