RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — As drug abuse and overdose rates rise across the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control, one Raleigh shelter and recovery program says they’re taking more people in every day.

Healing Transitions has provided addiction recovery and shelter services to underserved, homeless or uninsured people for decades.

On Wednesday, the non-profit held their second Art of Recovery event, using creative outlets to combat addition and keep doors open.

Lemantine Brown has been in Healing Transitions program for 15 months.

“At one time I felt like I couldn’t do it,” Brown said. “We’re not bad people trying to be good, we’re sick people trying to get well.”

He’s used painting and spoken word to support his recovery.

“I am hope,” Brown said.

Windi White, Co-Organizer of the fundraiser for Healing Transitions said the non-profit’s two shelters are already exceeding pre-pandemic capacity levels, even despite a recent facility expansion.

“There’s more and more people showing up every day,” White said. “We’ve seen an increase of need for services because of the opioid epidemic.”

The Centers for Disease Control data from May 2021 through May of this year shows North Carolina with the eighth highest opioid deaths in the country.

That’s following a 40 percent increase in overdose deaths in the state from 2019 to 2020, according to the state health department.

But Brown says programs like Healing Transitions won’t give up on the front lines of saving lives in the opioid crisis.

“Recovery is happening all over the place,” Brown said. “Just like the opioid academic is rising, people who recover from drugs addiction and alcohol is rising also.”