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After son's overdose, mother hopes to help others with new treatment home

LOWELL, Mass. — After losing her son to an opioid overdose, a local has made it her mission to prevent other young men from dying by partnering with a local agency to create a new, hybrid treatment program.

When you first walk into Zack's House, it feels more like a home than a transitional sober living house. That's exactly what Louise Griffin wanted; a facility that provided the support she wasn't able to find for her son.

"I looked high and low in Massachusetts and there wasn't anything for him. I called the Lowell House. They told me to come back when he was 21. At 21, he was dead," said Griffin.

Zack became addicted to opioids when he was 18 years old. His family sent him to a Florida treatment center three times. He eventually fatally overdosed in Florida.

Bill Garr, the CEO of Lowell House, says men between the ages of 18 and 26 have the highest relapse rate.

"It's a very special population, a very needy population," said Garr.

And it's a population that has been underserved. To address this need, Lowell House partnered with Griffin to open Zack's House.

"Zack's House is the first one that is in between a recovery home and a sober house and that provides additional structure of a case manager, house manager, and clinical supervisor," said Garr.

This house will eventually provide support for nine men, with a case manager also living there. They will be able to stay at the home for up to two years.

"This will provide the hope that I couldn't provide my son Zachary," said Griffin.

Zack's House is now accepting applications and hope to open shortly after Thanksgiving.