THE DALLES — The Gorge Recovery Center, a nonprofit looking to establish a fun hangout place for people in recovery, has received a $2 million state grant.
The nonprofit board met recently, and board members repeatedly mentioned their goal of having a place simply to have fun.
The goal is to find a location in The Dalles and be open by next spring, said Gorge Recovery Center Board Chair Derek Greenwood.
Being in recovery, particularly early recovery where people are often not working, can mean long hours with nothing to do between meetings, said board member Katrina Mace, a local drug and alcohol counselor with Mid-Columbia Center for Living.
A key ingredient of successful recovery is having a social life, she said: “What do you do with all that time when you’re just trying to stay clean?”
Greenwood said science has shown that physical and mental illnesses can be transmitted socially. “We believe our recovery center will be socially transmitting recovery.”
Mace was excited for the grant award. “I feel it makes us more legit because people wouldn’t throw $2 million at you if you didn’t have your ducks in a row.”
Just three letters of support were needed for the grant process, but the recovery center board got over 20 from local agencies, Greenwood said.
Aside from 12-step programs and meetings with drug and alcohol counselors, “there’s nowhere to go to learn how to have fun in recovery, and that’s one of the key components of recovery,” Mace said.
“There’s a missing piece in recovery” locally, she said. Portland and other areas have places to hang out and socialize, but there are none in the Gorge.
“We want it to be a place to come and have fun and hang out, outside of community support groups and meetings with their drug and alcohol counselors,” she said.
It will not only be a safe and sober hangout place, but it will also offer connections to services to learn early recovery skills, relapse prevention skills, anger management, and life skills, Mace said.
Another key part of recovery is being of service to others, Mace said, and those who are successful in their recovery can help mentor those who are new.
“If you’ve been in addiction, that’s your circle,” meaning others who are also in addiction, she said. “How do you do this socializing sober? We want to be that place. Come hang out. Talk to people.”
And it’s not always an option that people in recovery can turn to family for socialization. Family relationships often “need some work,” in the early days of recovery, Mace said.
Greenwood said the recovery center will offer peer support and connection for people newly in recovery, in ongoing recovery, and for the family, friends and employers of those affected by substance use disorder.
The grant will go toward buying or leasing a building, staffing it with peer counselors (people who are in recovery themselves) and an executive director.
The center will offer self-help meetings, services, and connect people to Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) and “fun,” Greenwood said. “Fun, fun, fun.”
Specific supports will include employment support, financial literacy, parenting classes, and “most importantly, be a place where people can connect and maintain connection in recovery,” he said.
Social connection not only provides fun, but role models living healthy lifestyles, he said.
Board Member Amanda Middleton, a peer support specialist at One Community Health, said, “I see it hosting yoga classes or art classes.”
As for possible locations, the board has identified a few possibilities. “It needs to have a large room for meetings,” Greenwood said, plus a hangout space and room for offices.
“There’s a variety of spaces around town that would be a good fit,” Greenwood said. He’s confident the board will find a good location. “We plan to be good neighbors, something that melds well with wherever we go.
“We do plan to be in the center of The Dalles,” he said.
The service area for the center covers Hood River, Sherman, Wasco and Klickitat counties.
The center would like to expand into Hood River in the future, Greenwood said.
The grant funding will be paid out over three years, and comes from the Oregon Opioid Settlement Prevention, Treatment and Recovery Board, which is charged with disbursing funds from settlements reached between states and companies that played a role in the national opioid overdose crisis.
The grant is administered by the Oregon Health Authority.
“There is an intersection between all these things we do that stimulate the reward center of the brain,” Greenwood said. “It’s common for someone in recovery to also struggle with eating, shopping, gambling.”
The center will be open to adults, he said. Teens will be referred to The Next Door, Inc., a local social services agency.
The Gorge Recovery Center group has been working for two years toward the goal of opening a location.
The recovery center is using a Portland based program, 4D Recovery Centers, to serve as its fiscal agent.
“They have a track record of doing this, they can help train our staff, they can help us get up and running quickly, without making mistakes,” Greenwood said.
Commented