Published in The Newburyport Current

By Carol Feingold / Correspondent

May 14, 2018

Opioid addiction is not just something you hear about on the news. According to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, between the years 2000 and 2015 there were 1,435 opioid-related deaths here in Essex County. Back in the year 2000 there were 46 deaths, but in 2014 that number spiked to 213 and one year later, in 2015, the number rose even higher to 236 deaths.

The opioid crisis is touching local lives and in 2015, Newburyport residents Kim Keene and her husband Steven and Elizabeth McCarthy decided to do something about it. They established the Pelican Intervention Fund (PIF), which recently won the Greater Newburyport Chamber of Commerce & Industry “Nonprofit Business of the Year” award.

Published in Newburyport Daily News

May 3, 2018

SALISBURY  – The Greater Newburyport Chamber of Commerce & Industry presented several business and individual awards Thursday during the organization’s 52nd annual meeting and awards ceremony at Blue Ocean Event Center. 

All of us at the Pelican Intervention  Fund want to send our congratulations to Mitch, one of our alumni, for winning first place at the 2018 RPS New Hampshire and Vermont Powerlifting State Championships on April 7^th.

Not only did Mitch win first prize, he broke the record for both New Hampshire and Vermont.
Achieving such success requires sacrifice, dedication, focus, hard work over time, challenging one’s self and hope in what is possible.

We are proud of Mitch’s success and thank him for his support of the Pelican intervention Fund and his help to others on the journey to recovery.

Thank you Mitch for affirming by your life that recovery is possible.  You give others hope and encourage us to continue working to secure funds for men and women ready to begin their journey to recovery.

Published in Newburyport Daily News

April 26, 2018

NEWBURYPORT — A group of local residents struggling with addiction will share stories of their path to recovery Sunday as part of an event hosted by the Pelican Intervention Fund.

Although it will be the Pelican Intervention Fund’s fourth annual testimonial event, this will also be the first Celebration of Hope Fundraiser — a title that Pelican Intervention Fund co-founder Kim Keene said accurately reflects the event’s goal of shining a hopeful light on the opioid crisis and showing that recovery is possible.

Published in Newburyport Daily News

Mar 14, 2018

NEWBURYPORT — Newburyport Youth Services and The Beacon Coalition will honor the winners of the 10th annual Asset Builder Awards on March 21 at 7 p.m. in City Hall Auditorium.

It is annual opportunity to recognize community members who through their work, encourage, empower and support youths in one of the eight categories of the 40 Assets, according to a press release.

The Asset Builder Award winners are Pelican Intervention Fund founders Steven and Kim Keene, and Elizabeth McCarthy; eighth-graders Finn Sullivan, Jack Fehlner, Grant Mossesian, Trevor Maines and Evan Aldrich; Edward Speck of Theater in the Open; and Nock Middle School teacher Mike Pirollo.

Published in Newburyport Daily News

Jan 30, 2018

NEWBURYPORT – Newburyport Five Cents Savings Charitable Foundation recently donated $15,000 to support the Pelican Intervention Fund, which assists with treatment for individuals suffering from drug addiction.

Foundation president Janice C. Morse called The Pelican Intervention Fund “a vital organization to our community which supports individuals and their families on their journeys from addiction to recovery.”

THE KEENE FAMILY: 12 Steps in the Right Direction

Kim Keene and her husband, Steve, sit opposite each other at their dining room table with scraps of newspaper clippings and magazine articles spread in between. They sift through the pile recalling all the publications that have featured the Pelican Intervention Fund, the foundation they and Elizabeth McCarthy co-founded.

NON-PROFIT SPOTLIGHT

THE PELICAN INTERVENTION FUND: One Local Response to the Growing Opiate Crisis

By Steven Keene and Elizabeth McCarthy

Kim and I first met “Corey” 15 years ago when we moved to Newburyport. He became friends with our son and was quickly “adopted’ into our family. He was a well-known, popular member of the community and high school. Corey was your typical Newburyport kid: clean cut, hardworking, and on high school sports teams. Imagine our shock and disbelief in late 2014 when one of his friends confided in us that, “If we don’t help Corey get off his drug addiction, he’ll be dead by the end of the year.”