Every day, HRiA’s 24/7 Substance Use Helplines receive calls from people urgently seeking treatment and support for themselves or loved ones. Many have faced repeated setbacks and are reaching out, hoping for immediate help. Recently, a caller to our Illinois Helpline shared a powerful reflection “When people need help, they must receive it in that moment, and not to just wait until tomorrow. When [I’ve had to wait to get a treatment], I went right back out and started using drugs again. There should be a way for you to help that person right then and there.” This insight underscores a critical truth: timely access to care can be lifesaving.
Fortunately, this individual is now among the 6,800 people we have connected to MAR Now (Medication-Assisted Recovery Now), an immediate, effective form of care for Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) and Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). With support from HRiA’s Innovation Incubator, we are expanding the impact of this initiative to new communities, ensuring more people can access compassionate, effective care without delay.
MAR Now Eliminates Common Obstacles to Substance Use Treatment
MAR Now is a unique, 24/7 program that eliminates common obstacles to substance use treatment—no long wait times, no transportation hurdles, no insurance or documentation required. It connects individuals directly to a telehealth provider for same-day access to Medication-Assisted Recovery (MAR) for AUD and OUD.
Launched in 2022 with leadership from the Chicago Department of Public Health, MAR Now has grown into a statewide collaboration between public health, human services, and treatment providers. The service is primarily implemented through the Illinois Helpline (operated by HRiA) and Family Guidance Centers, Inc., with local partners across the state, and funded by the Illinois Department of Human Services Division of Behavioral Health & Recovery (IDHS-DBHR).
Thousands have already benefited, receiving life-saving medications like buprenorphine, methadone, or naltrexone within hours of their initial call. These treatments reduce cravings and withdrawal symptoms, helping people stabilize while continuing daily responsibilities without needing inpatient care.
After the initial connection, care coordinators follow up to ensure ongoing support. Early data shows:
- 98% of MAR Now participants attend their first provider visit.
- Significant improvements in health, relationships, mental well-being, and substance use outcomes.
What We’re Learning
The MAR Now Expansion Project sought to better understand and document the program’s implementation, impact, and potential for replication in other communities. Through data collection and analysis, document review, and interviews with staff, providers, former clients, and program and policy leaders, the project uncovered key lessons about reducing barriers to care, fostering trust, expanding treatment options, and sustaining the people who make this work possible. These themes help explain MAR Now’s success and inform future implementation efforts.
Participants consistently emphasized the importance of accessing treatment quickly and with minimal obstacles. Delays related to paperwork, waitlists, transportation, insurance coverage, or stigma can prevent people from receiving care when they are ready to seek help. As one client shared, “MAR Now was so quick unlike our experiences…where they had all these questions and we had to wake up at 3:30AM to get there and wait multiple days before we even got our medicine.” Their experiences underscore the value of reducing barriers and shortening the time between seeking help and receiving treatment.
Former clients described MAR Now as compassionate, accessible, and free from judgment. In a space where stigma often prevents people from seeking help, participants emphasized the importance of feeling respected and supported. A client stated, “It was a seamless and quick feel-good-about-yourself process. I really can’t describe what a relief it was.” Another reflected, “When I called, I didn’t feel stigma or judged. Sometimes when you call these places, there can be stigma and judging…and I didn’t feel that at all when I called the Helpline and MAR Now.”
While MAR Now began as a service connecting people to medications for opioid use disorder (OUD), it has expanded to support individuals seeking medications for alcohol use disorder (AUD). Policy leaders described the addition of AUD resources as an important step in reducing stigma and creating more welcoming pathways to recovery. As one leader explained, “The new resources being added, like AUD treatment, have helped people feel less stigmatized with treatment. With this hotline, you can call from wherever you feel safe and be welcomed to recovery.” Utilization remains higher for OUD services, highlighting an opportunity to increase awareness of treatment options and support available for people with AUD.
Team members in long-term recovery and those who have lost loved ones to substance use played a central role in conducting client interviews, with support from HRiA’s Research & Evaluation team. Hearing how MAR Now changed people’s lives months or years after their initial contact reinforced the importance of the work. As one staff member reflected, “A lot of people who call are sobbing on the phone tears of joy and gaining hope back for the first time in a long time, saying how they were never able to have access to care. We hear a lot of those stories, and it touches your heart.”
Introducing the “From Call to Care” Toolkit
Insights from the MAR Now Expansion Project informed the development of From Call to Care: A guide to advocating for fast, low-barrier telehealth medication for addiction treatment (MAT) in your community.
Designed for advocates, providers, funders, public health agencies, and community organizations, the toolkit offers practical guidance for planning and implementing low-barrier telehealth MAT programs. Key components include:
- About From Call to Care: An overview of the toolkit’s purpose, intended audiences, and four pillars of effective low-barrier telehealth MAT programs.
- The MAR Now Case Study: The evolution of MAR Now from a Chicago pilot to a statewide, 24/7 program.
- Planning Tools: Capacity assessment resources, a 90-day implementation checklist, and testimonials that highlight the model’s impact.
- Resource Library: A searchable collection of articles, policy guidance, tools, and other resources that can be filtered by topic and audience.
Looking Ahead
The MAR Now Expansion Project reinforced the importance of low-barrier, person-centered approaches to substance use treatment and recovery support. The resulting toolkit translates these lessons into practical strategies that public health agencies, health care organizations, community-based organizations, and policymakers can adapt to expand access to care in their own communities.
As interest in low-barrier approaches continues to grow, the toolkit aims to support organizations seeking to reduce obstacles to treatment, strengthen recovery supports, and connect people to care when they need it most.
Taking Action in Your Community
Applying these lessons can help communities create more accessible, effective, and sustainable systems of care for those who need them most. Whether you are a provider, policymaker, community leader, or advocate, below are practical steps you can take to advance this work in your own community.
- Explore the toolkit to learn how communities are expanding access to treatment and recovery support.
- Identify opportunities to adapt these approaches within your own organization or community.
- Share the toolkit with colleagues, partners, and decision-makers working to strengthen systems of care.
