How SENT Inc.’s Substance Use Disorder Recovery Services Are Meeting People Where They Are — and Walking With Them Toward What’s Next
There is a moment, for many people struggling with substance use, when they finally decide to reach out for help. It is rarely an easy moment. Getting there often means fighting through shame, fear, and the quiet voice that says: it won’t work, you’re too far gone, no one wants to help someone like you.
And then there’s a second barrier: actually finding care that is accessible, affordable, and feels safe enough to walk into.
For too many people across Kansas — and across the country — that second barrier wins. Not because people don’t want to recover. But because the systems designed to help them are too fragmented, too expensive, too distant, or too saturated with judgment.
SENT Inc. exists to change that.
The Scale of the Problem
Substance use disorder is not a fringe issue. In 2024, 48.4 million people in the United States — about 1 in 6 Americans — met the clinical criteria for a substance use disorder. That is not a statistic about strangers. That is neighbors, coworkers, family members, and people sitting in our pews.
Source: SAMHSA, 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) https://www.samhsa.gov/newsroom/press-announcements/20250728/samhsa-releases-annual-national-survey-on-drug-use-and-health
Of the 52.6 million people who needed treatment in 2024, 80% did not receive it. Not because treatment doesn’t work — it does. But because stigma, cost, limited availability, and not knowing where to start are walls that most people cannot climb alone.
Source: SAMHSA, 2024 NSDUH https://www.samhsa.gov/blog/release-2024-nsduh-leveraging-latest-substance-use-mental-health-data-make-america-healthy-again
Here in Kansas, the reality is equally sobering. In 2023, the state recorded 653 overdose deaths — a rate of 22 per 100,000 people, the third highest the state has seen since data became available in 1999. The overdose death rate in Kansas has increased 84% since 2018, with fentanyl and other synthetic opioids now involved in more than half of all overdose deaths in the state.
Source: USAFacts, citing CDC data https://usafacts.org/answers/how-many-drug-overdose-deaths-happen-every-year-in-the-us/state/kansas/
These numbers have names and faces. They are people who deserve better access to care. And in communities like Hi-Crest in Southeast Topeka — where economic instability, limited transportation, and food insecurity compound every other challenge — the path to recovery is even harder to find.
Who Gets Left Behind
The treatment gap in this country is not distributed equally. Although substance use rates are similar across racial and ethnic groups, only about 10% of Black Americans receive necessary treatment for substance use disorders — a stark disparity that reflects not individual choices, but systemic failures in access, trust, and resources.
Source: EBSCO Research Starters — Health Disparities and Substance Abuse https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/consumer-health/health-disparities-and-substance-abuse
For people living in under-resourced neighborhoods, the barriers compound. No transportation to a clinic across town. No insurance, or insurance that doesn’t cover the right services. A history of being made to feel like a problem rather than a person. The sense that recovery is for other people in other neighborhoods.
This is the landscape SENT works within every day. And it is exactly why the model matters.
What SENT’s Approach Looks Like
SENT’s Substance Use Disorder Recovery Services were not designed to be another clinic with a waiting room and a clipboard. They were designed to meet people where they are — in whatever stage of readiness, whatever circumstance, whatever story brought them to the door.
The approach is low-barrier and harm-reduction informed. That means no person is turned away because they can’t pay. It means sessions are available both in-person and via telehealth, so that a lack of transportation is not the thing that ends someone’s recovery. It means individualized treatment plans that reflect who someone actually is, not a generic protocol. It means SENT is approved by KDADS to provide SUD assessments, including for DUI cases.
And it means something just as important: people are treated with dignity from the moment they walk in.
“SENT gives me a feeling of acceptance and understanding. I was hesitant to go at first. I thought that therapy wasn’t going to be beneficial, and that the location was an old elementary school. It really didn’t seem like a professional place on the outside to do therapy, but boy I was wrong. After I got acquainted with the staff, I became excited to go every week. The people are very nice, and have similar past problems that are relatable to my own. I also love the fact that I’m able to go at my own pace and talk freely to my therapist as if I was talking to a close friend. I highly recommend this place to those that are struggling with addiction or mental health.” — Female client, SENT SUD Recovery Services
That moment of surprise — “boy I was wrong” — matters. Because every person who walks through that door carries assumptions about what help looks and feels like. For many, those assumptions have been shaped by systems that felt cold, transactional, or shaming. SENT is designed to be different.
The Numbers Behind the Work
Since the inception of SENT’s SUD program in 2023, 61 individuals have been served, and 3 have successfully completed the program. The work is steady, relational, and growing — and for those who reach the finish line, it represents a transformation that touches every part of their life.
In 2025 alone, the department provided 332 total therapy hours across 325 appointments — delivered through a hybrid model that kept 88% of sessions in-person for strong therapeutic connection while offering telehealth access to those who needed it. Fifty-two clients were served, including 30 new clients, and 63 treatment inquiries were answered.
Access to care remained a core commitment. About 73% of appointments were billed to insurance, 27% were private pay, and fee waivers were available for those who could not afford services — because a person’s ability to pay should never determine whether they get help.
A weekly Level 1 virtual treatment group was launched to expand group-based support, reducing transportation barriers and improving continuity of care for clients who could not attend in person.
To protect lives while treatment is underway, SENT distributed 354 naloxone kits, 480 fentanyl test strips, and 106 medication disposal bags in 2025 — harm reduction tools placed across multiple access points including the Southside Wellness Clinic, the Southside Filling Station, and the 24/7 Save-A-Life Station. Because meeting people where they are sometimes means having the tools ready before they’re ready for the appointment.
“Working with SENT has been great for me. I get to work on my addiction alongside my individual therapist, and that continues to help me with my mental illness I battle as well. I’m grateful for the help I get from SENT. Everyone there is very kind and compassionate, and it’s a comforting feeling to have a team of which they care about me. I’m confident that this experience has bettered my life in many ways.” — Male client, SENT SUD Recovery Services
Co-occurring mental health conditions — depression, anxiety, trauma, PTSD — are common among people with substance use disorders, and if left untreated, they increase relapse risk. SENT’s integrated model means that SUD services do not exist separately from mental health support. They work together, often with the same clinical team, so that the whole person is addressed — not just one symptom.
The Wraparound Difference
One of the most significant things SENT’s data reveals is what happens after someone begins SUD services: they don’t stay in one lane.
Of the 61 people served through SENT’s SUD program since inception, 82% — 50 people — went on to access additional services within SENT’s wraparound model.
That is not a referral rate. That is a relationship rate. It means that when someone feels safe and supported in one place, they are willing to take the next step. And the next one after that.
Another 18% — 11 people — arrived at SENT through another service first and were later connected to SUD support. They came for food, or housing help, or medical care — and through the consistent, relationship-based presence of Neighbor Advocates, a deeper need was identified and addressed.
This is the wraparound model in practice. It recognizes that recovery does not happen in a vacuum. It happens when someone’s basic needs are met, when they have food and stable housing and transportation, when their mental health is supported alongside their physical health, when there is someone who knows their name and walks with them through the process.
In 2025, Neighbor Advocacy helped SUD clients access housing stabilization, identification documents, SNAP enrollment, and transportation coordination. The Southside Wellness Clinic provided integrated primary care and MAT/MOUD services. The Southside Filling Station addressed food insecurity — an often-overlooked relapse risk factor — with transportation routes intentionally coordinated so that clients could shop before or after treatment, maximizing a single trip in a neighborhood with limited transit options.
Recovery does not happen in silos. Neither does the work of supporting it.
“Working with SENT SUD Services has had a positive impact on my life and recovery journey. The therapy and support I’ve received have helped me work on myself and make progress toward a healthier and more stable future. Just yesterday, I started working with someone through the program who is helping me find a job, which has already made me feel more hopeful and motivated. I’m grateful for the support, encouragement, and resources the program provides.” — Female client, SENT SUD Recovery Services
A job connection through Neighbor Advocacy. A therapist who listens. Food in the refrigerator. A stable place to sleep. These are not separate outcomes — they are one pathway, built around one person.
The Peer Navigation Bridge
One of the most powerful tools in SENT’s recovery model is something that cannot be replicated by a system: a person who has been there.
In 2025, through DCCCA grant funding, SENT deployed peer navigation support specifically designed to reduce barriers to SUD treatment. The results were striking. Within just six months, SENT went from zero to 42 clients engaged in peer support for opioid, stimulant, and polysubstance use disorders. A near doubling of clients served in a single month was attributed directly to the removal of transportation barriers and expanded peer coordination.
That growth did not come from a marketing campaign. It came from showing up. From making a ride available. From having someone call to check in. From removing the friction that costs people their momentum.
118 referrals connected individuals to broader community-based care through that same grant period — each one a thread in a larger net designed to catch people before they fall further.
Recovery Is Real. And It Happens Here.
Perhaps the most important stat of all: according to SAMHSA’s 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 74.3% of adults who perceived they ever had a problem with drug or alcohol use considered themselves to be in recovery or to have recovered. That is more than 23 million people.
Source: SAMHSA, 2024 NSDUH https://www.samhsa.gov/newsroom/press-announcements/20250728/samhsa-releases-annual-national-survey-on-drug-use-and-health
Recovery is not a rarity. It is not reserved for people with the right zip code or the right insurance card or the right amount of willpower. It is happening every day, for millions of people, when they are met with the right support at the right time.
At SENT, we believe that support should be available right here, in this neighborhood, for the people who live here. Not across town. Not behind a six-week waiting list. Here.
That is what the wraparound model is about. SUD recovery services do not stand alone — they are woven into a larger fabric of care that includes medical services at the Southside Wellness Clinic, mental health counseling, food access at the Southside Filling Station, housing pathways, workforce connections, and Neighbor Advocates who walk alongside people at every step.
Because substance use disorder is a health issue. Not a moral failing. Not a character flaw. A health issue — one that responds to treatment, to connection, to compassion, and to a community that refuses to give up on its neighbors.
If You or Someone You Know Is Struggling
You do not have to have everything figured out before you reach out. You do not need to be at rock bottom. You do not need to know what step comes next.
You just need to take one step: reaching out.
SENT’s SUD Recovery Services are available regardless of your insurance status. We offer in-person and telehealth appointments, peer navigation support, and connection to the full range of wraparound services at the SENT Family Resource Center.
Learn more or get connected:
Website: senttopeka.com/substance-use-disorder-services
Phone: 785-783-2535
Email: info@SENTtopeka.com
455 SE Golf Park Blvd., Topeka, KS 66605
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, available 24/7.
Works Cited
SAMHSA. (2025, July 28). 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH).
SAMHSA. (2025). Leveraging the Latest Substance Use and Mental Health Data.
USAFacts. (2026). Drug overdose deaths in Kansas. Citing CDC data.
https://usafacts.org/answers/how-many-drug-overdose-deaths-happen-every-year-in-the-us/state/kansas/
EBSCO Research Starters. Health Disparities and Substance Abuse.
https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/consumer-health/health-disparities-and-substance-abuse
SENT Inc. Substance Use Disorder Services 2025 Year-End Impact Report. (Internal document.)