HUNTINGTON ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” The new executive director of LilyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Place is preparing to take the organization toward its next mission: drug prevention.
Olivia Meade, who started with the nonprofit in 2018 as director of development and later returned as director of finance, was recently named executive director of LilyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Place, a nonprofit serving underprivileged families in Huntington since October 2014. It is primarily known for providing treatment to newborns with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS).
In 2020, LilyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Place added the Family Center, which offers counseling, peer recovery support, case management and groups to the community. The ChildrenÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Center opened in 2023 and provides counseling, case management, prevention services, mentorship, outreach activities and groups to children and youth through age 18.
Its residential treatment program opened in 2024 and has graduated four women so far.
The organization is also currently renovating the former Highlawn Elementary School into a community resource center ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” one of MeadeÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s top priorities. ItÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s a big shift for the nonprofit because this is its first preventive program, while other programs are focused on treatment.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWeÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re still in the very preliminary stages of construction there. That program will be heavily focused on prevention, and so when you think about a traditional community center that you see in communities, thatÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s what weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re going for there,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Meade said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œSo none of our current programming will be moving to Highlawn, but weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ll be able to serve a really specific, community-based population ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” getting families in summer camps for kids, cooking classes for families. We hope to have a fitness aspect to that as well, to be able to serve some first responders, too.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
LilyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Place is exploring preventative programs because there has been so much progress with treatment programs, said Meade, a native West Virginian who grew up in Lincoln County. She moved to Huntington to attend Marshall University and stayed.
, NAS affects 6.7% of births, and Intrauterine Substance Exposure (IUSE) impacts 8.8%. While NAS cases have declined since peaking in 2017, IUSE rates have continued to rise, mirroring national trends.
NAS refers to withdrawal symptoms experienced by newborns exposed to substances in utero. IUSE refers to the broader concept of a babyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s exposure to any substance, including drugs and alcohol but also substances like nicotine, while in the womb.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWeÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re trying to figure out what it looks like for us to remain sustainable here while still serving the population that we know and are passionate about serving,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Meade said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWe have some nursing staff here who have been here for almost a decade. TheyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ve been here from the very beginning, and so they care deeply about these babies and their families and being able to serve them. WeÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re kind of exploring now what it looks like for us to continue to help in the crisis but be able to be used at a higher capacity.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Meade said she, like the founding members and staff, does not want there to be a need for LilyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Place. No one wants babies to be born with NAS, she said, but also treatment services at LilyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Place are far from being not needed.
LilyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Place does not offer benefits to its employees, and Meade recognizes that many of them could likely make more working elsewhere, but they choose to continue at the nonprofit because they see their work as important. One of her organizational goals is for staff to feel valued.
As for the challenges facing LilyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Place right now, the big ones are funding and addressing the stigma about people with substance use disorders.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWe have been incredibly blessed in the 10-plus years that weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ve been here to have such great community support, but the nature of being a nonprofit, particularly one that provides medical care, itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s not always easy to meet that bottom line,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ she said.
LilyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Place received national attention when first lady Melania Trump visited in 2017. Coverage and interest has died down since then, but Meade wants people to know that LilyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Place is more than just a NAS center, and it still needs support.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œI want for us to be good partners in the community to people, and so part of that is just getting out there and participating in things that we may not have participated in before,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ she said.
For example, Meade was recently accepted into Leadership Huntington, a program offered through the Huntington Regional Chamber of Commerce ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œthat is designed to connect, develop, empower, and mobilize current and emerging leaders who are committed to making a difference in the Huntington region.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
LilyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Place NAS center is located on 7th Avenue in Huntington, near other social services like the City Mission and Facing Hunger Foodbank. People who need these services might not have access to reliable transportation.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œI think that weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re very mindful of what our city is facing, in terms of ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” either the lack of services or the increase in people needing services. I donÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t really know which came first. One thing that we found with people is that we will do everything that we can to help a person, but they also have to be ready to receive that help. We can do everything we can to help get them ready or to explain to them, but unless someone is ready to receive, thereÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s only so much that we can do,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ she said.
