BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) \u2014 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there were approximately 38,000 opioid-related deaths in the United States in 2025.<\/p>\n
In response to the ongoing crisis, Gov. Gavin Newsom recently announced a new 24-hour hotline called CA Bridge Connect, aimed at providing immediate help for people seeking opioid treatment.<\/p>\n
For behavioral health technicians like Mandy Herrera, who works in a recovery center, the first step before asking for help is accepting that individuals have an addiction problem.<\/p>\n
“They’ve either lost their family, they’ve lost their support system, they’ve ended up in the hospital, they lost their jobs,” Herrera said.<\/p>\n
Recovery centers provide treatment programs while Bakersfield AIDS Project founder Audrey Chavez says efforts are underway to make Narcan and other harm-reduction resources available free of charge to anyone who needs them.<\/p>\n
Chavez says the phase while recovering can be long and winding.<\/p>\n
“You may take five steps forward and you know one step back,” Chavez said.<\/p>\n
Chavez says what matters is having various resources available for everyone \u2014 even a new hotline.<\/p>\n
“Any tool that helps someone to stay alive to get that support is important,” Chavez said.<\/p>\n
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.<\/p>\n
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