“When she revealed stuff about her personal life, that opened the door for me,” White told The Sentinel Friday.

Kuster talked about her brother, Donald McLane, who she said became addicted to opioids after undergoing surgery a few years back.

Much of the New Hampshire Democrat’s story resonated among the dozen or so gathered in the circle, either personally or for a loved one.

It started with just a prescription to OxyContin.

Then a second oxycodone prescription, just for the short term, until Kuster said she kept hearing her brother say his pain was at a six out of 10 during checkups.

Eventually, Donald got treatment, and Kuster told the group he had no qualms about giving her permission to share his story. Despite whatever stigma some may hold, Kuster said, addiction is “an equal opportunity illness.”

In recounting the resistance to expanding funding for treatment that she has heard from lawmakers in Washington and some constituents, Kuster kept comparing addiction to other illnesses, asking whether someone would make a similar moral judgment about a patient with epilepsy or diabetes.

By that point, there was no proverbial ice left to break, and White shared his story of recovery, followed by others sitting beside him.

“I’m one of my only friends left,” said White, now five years sober.

The Keene resident, who was formerly incarcerated, said he was unable to get treatment as an inmate until just a few weeks ahead of his release.

“You can’t heal a lifetime of destruction in 28 days,” Nancy Gehrung, a recovery coach at the Serenity Center and with Granite Pathways, added as White and Kuster discussed the need to improve recovery programs both behind bars and during re-entry.

Sarah Allen, a Marlborough native in recovery, asked Kuster about models in the private sector that could grow with government support, and was joined by others in a fluid policy discussion with the congresswoman.

As part of that exchange, Kuster, the founder and co-chairwoman of the Bipartisan Heroin Task Force, talked about not only legislation she has introduced — such as a bill that would require pharmaceutical companies to print warnings about potentially addictive qualities of medications they sell — but also the future of the opioid crisis.

With fentanyl having overtaken less potent opioid painkillers and heroin as the deadliest and most common agent in New Hampshire overdoses, Kuster outlined how addressing synthetic opioids should be a priority for Congress.

Workforce development is also part of the equation, according to Kuster, who said people in recovery shouldn’t be overlooked as companies search for skilled employees.