The Damage Done
  • ++Episodes
    • ++Healing Allison
      • Episode 1
      • Episode 2
      • Episode 3
      • Episode 4
      • Episode 5
    • ++A Chief for Hope
      • Episode 1
      • Episode 2
      • Episode 3
      • Episode 4
      • Episode 5
    • ++The Unwanted
      • Episode 1
      • Episode 2
      • Episode 3
      • Episode 4
      • Episode 5
      • Episode
  • By the numbers
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook

Nashville, NC

A Chief for Hope | Episode 5

Chief Bashore makes a life changing decision and the Hope Initiative moves into new territory.

More videos

A Chief for Hope | Episode 4

Chief Bashore struggles with outreach in the nearby town of Rocky Mount, where drugs took a stubborn hold in African American neighborhoods.

A Chief for Hope | Episode 3

At a small Nashville church, ‘Pastor Mike’ uses prayer and lessons from his own past as an addict to help heroin users recover.

A Chief for Hope | Episode 2

The Tar River Task Force chases heroin dealers while Chief Bashore helps another addict from jail to treatment.

About the Project

Assigned to cover the opioid epidemic, VOA journalists Chris Simkins and Jeff Swicord decided to take an intimate look at the struggles of Americans dealing with the problem every day. Their three main characters – a recovering addict, a volunteer street counselor, and small town police chief – along with their locations – Miami, Philadelphia and Nashville, N.C. – offer a multilayered portrait of this national health emergency as it plays out on the ground. Episodes in each story will appear here, on VOA Connect and VOA’s YouTube channel.

Credits

Reporting and videography: Chris Simkins and Jeff Swicord

Producer/video editor: Jacquelyn De Phillips

Graphics: Chin Soo Park

Drone video: Marcus Harton

Managing editor: Tom Detzel

More from VOA News