A Community Effort to Save a Young Life
Local residents pool their own money to send a young man struggling with addiction to the Keeley Institute for treatment.
Certain residents of Olympia, among them Mrs. P. C. Hale, H. F. Bilger and E. L. Melton are demonstrating in very practical fashion their willingness to follow the scriptural injunction, 'do unto others as ye would that others should do unto you.' Some weeks ago their attention was called to a young opium 'fiend' who, though only 22 years old, was nearly dead from long continued use of the drug; and to add to his unfortunate plight, penniless and friendless. By going deeply into their own pockets and influencing others to do the same, they secured his admission to the Keeley Institute, where, thanks to the virtues of the Keeley treatment, he has stopped the use of the drug altogether, and will shortly be discharged, entirely cured. These results can hardly fail to be highly satisfactory to the large-hearted people who befriended him, and an incalculable benefit to the young man himself.
“By going deeply into their own pockets and influencing others to do the same, they secured his admission to the Keeley Institute.”
This story highlights a 19th-century approach to addiction recovery that relied on private charity and the 'Keeley cure'—a popular, if medically dubious, patent treatment of the era. It mirrors modern debates about the role of community support versus public health infrastructure in addressing the ongoing opioid crisis in Olympia.
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