Life Matters in Recovery
It's time to start the conversation about peer supported recovery housing. It's an area not being given enough thought or the attention it deserves. Most of the hundreds millions of dollars being distributed from court cases won as a result of the deaths of our children, friends and family is being spent on education, mental health and harm reduction. These are all worthy tools, however opiate addiction treatment does not end after medication assisted treatment and outpatient counseling begins. Sadly, medication does not work for everyone, does not treat the addiction nor does it work well for those with multiple addictions including alcohol. It has saved many lives through its ability to help the user manage his and her addictions and hopefully taper off at a future point. But let's not stop there. A path to abstinence is no longer discussed as a viable option and in fact, you may have heard that it just doesn't work, yet many have achieved it and we strongly believe that with the proper and adequate support, it is the best possible outcome.
Not enough is being done to provide a road to abstinence and we need to look further than harm reduction strategies. We need to more solutions because too many people are still dying.
Although recovery communities have been found to be successful, there is little discussion about them. The Living Sober Farm of Ulster County Project is an alternative working farm community of peers living together in a sober environment as a family unit. The Farm strategy is not meant to be a hand-out, but a functional community support system in which those whose lives are affected by addiction can reside for years, allowing their traumatized brains to heal and with time, bring normal brain function back so that lost emotional feelings such as joy and love can be relearned. Residents pay rent and take care of themselves and support the farm family. If a resident does not have a job, jobs will be available on the Farm. The Farm's goal is to eventually be self sustaining and it will work towards that goal. We believe strongly in viewing recovery as a whole life transformation and not just a behavioral change and medical management..
This is more than a journey; it is a battle for survival. It will take a community effort to help defeat the enemy of addiction.
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