Hickory's The Olive Branch Ministry featured in 'Dopesick' sequel (2024)

A sequel to the bestselling book “Dopesick,” which dug into the opioid epidemic, features Hickory-based The Olive Branch Ministry.

The ministry helps people struggling with addiction.

“Raising Lazarus: Hope, Justice, And The Future Of America’s Overdose Crisis,” is journalist Beth Macy’s sequel to “Dopesick.”

The book opens by painting a picture of the work of Tim Nolan, a nurse-practitioner with Olive Branch. Nolan provides clean needles and hepatitis C tests, among other things, to people with addictions.

The book tells the story of Olive Branch, its co-founders, Rev. Michelle Mathis and her wife, Karen Lowe, and other organizations focused on helping people and reducing harm caused by addiction.

Macy’s book “Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors and the Drug Company that Addicted America” explains how large drug companies played a role in the opioid epidemic by pushing the addictive pain-killer OxyContin. The sequel tells the story of those on the ground fighting back against that epidemic.

Among them is Mathis, whose take on the biblical story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead inspired the title of the book.

Mathis often uses the story of Lazarus to explain that everyone can play a part in helping people out of addiction, she said. While Jesus brought Lazarus back from the dead, he asked others to help mourn, roll away the tombstone and unwrap Lazarus’ burial clothes. Mathis says the same goes for helping those recover from addiction. Some can help spread the word about what’s available, some can remove barriers, whether that’s financial or otherwise. Others, she said, are in the trenches, unbinding people, to help them take the first step toward recovery.

“The takeaway from that story is that we all have a role to play in this,” Mathis said. “Regardless of where we find ourselves in the story of raising Lazarus, the question is are you going to act on that or are you going to talk about it?”

Mathis said she didn’t realize when she first met Macy that their friendship — built over their shared interest in the opioid epidemic — could turn into a book. As Mathis grew to know Macy, she came to trust her. When Macy talked to her about a book featuring Olive Branch’s work, Mathis said she hoped it would be a way to share the work of Olive Branch and other organizations focused on reducing harm from addiction, preventing overdoses and helping people out of addiction.

“I really want people to understand that so often when a name is brought up, the focus becomes on the individual. But it’s not about me,” Mathis said. “It’s about the work and it’s about Olive Branch and the work our staff does. I hope that it (the book) will bring awareness to what is being done and will inspire other people to think outside the box.”

The book details intimate parts of the work Olive Branch does. It also offers a look at Mathis herself. The story of her flower tattoo is included, she said. Under the flower are the words, ‘Acta non verba,’ a phrase that guides Mathis’ work, she said.

“It means, ‘Actions not words,’” Mathis said. “So often people sit around tables and talk and plan but they don’t actually do anything. The time to do has long come. We have to do.”

Seeing the book come to fruition has been emotional. It’s also made her vulnerable because it opens Olive Branch and other organizations up to applause, as well as criticism, Mathis said. The potential for criticism is worth the opportunity to share the work going on at Olive Branch, she said.

Mathis is hoping to bring Macy to The Olive Branch in Hickory as part of her book tour. Macy will be at Olive Branch’s Gastonia location in September, Mathis said.

“Raising Lazarus” was released Aug. 16.