Category: Bronx

Our Spring 2017 newsletter is now available!

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News opioid recovery programThe Spring 2017 edition of Odyssey House News is now available online. Read about our new street outreach grant in Harlem, how we’re expanding recovery services in the Bronx, and more. You can even get a sneak peek inside the George Rosenfeld Center for Recovery, opening in May on Wards Island. Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments or on our Facebook wall. Click here to read it (pdf).

If you’d like to receive a copy in the mail, please email your contact information to info(at)odysseyhousenyc.org.

New community and outreach center expands recovery services in the Bronx

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This spring, Odyssey House will be expanding its recovery services in the Bronx with the opening of a new Recovery Community and Outreach Center (RCOC), providing a community-based, non-clinical setting that is safe, welcoming, and alcohol/drug-free. The center will promote long-term recovery through skill building, recreation, wellness education, employment readiness, civic restoration opportunities, and other social activities.

Dr. Peter Provet, president of Odyssey House, said, “We’re pleased to build on the success of our Bronx-based services and provide individuals and families on the road to recovery with the services they need, where they need them most – in their own community.”

Recovery center staff will help individuals and families navigate the addiction treatment system and secure insurance coverage. The center will provide an opportunity for individuals and families to connect with peers who are going through similar challenges so that they can benefit from shared experiences and commitment to common goals for recovery.

Odyssey House is one of five sites selected by the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, each of which will receive $350,000 annually over five years to provide health, wellness, and other critical support to individuals and families who are recovering from a substance use disorder. These model recovery centers are a key piece of Governor Cuomo’s aggressive, multi-pronged approach to addressing substance use disorders in New York State.

“Addiction devastates the lives of too many New Yorkers and their families, but recovery from addiction is attainable with the right support,” Governor Cuomo said. “New Yorkers in every part of the state will now have the recovery-focused resources and supports they need to make their recovery possible, bringing us another step closer to a stronger and healthier New York for all.”

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Last year, Odyssey House opened Soundview Avenue, a NewYork State Office of Mental Health-funded supportive housing building that provides permanent housing in the Bronx for 56 single, low income adults living with special needs. To mark our one-year anniversary of providing services, we held a breakfast for our tenants, neighbors, and community partners.
We had a great turnout from the community, including representatives from the 43rd Precinct Community Council, the Soundview Residence Council, Urban Health Plan, and Leake & Watts. Dr. Sidney Hargrave, vice chair of the Bronx Community Board #9, said, “Odyssey House has been a partner with Community Board 9 for years. Thank you for being a beacon in this community. This is one of the best residences in our district.”


 Ruth S., a tenant who moved into Soundview Avenue in January 2014, addressed the crowd to talk about her experiences in the shelter system and how her life has turned around since moving in: “I felt insecure, hopeless and sad all the time – I isolated myself and my mental illness worsened. It’s comforting to have my independence back and stability in my life. Odyssey House has made me feel better; for the past year, I have felt safe.”

In the news: Recovery services for older adults

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News 12 Bronx interviewed Mary Callahan, program director of Odyssey House Outpatient Services, as well as clients about the $445,000 grant we just received from the NYS Department of Health. The grant will allow us to implement a peer mentoring track for older adults (Serving Older Adults Recovery System, or SOARS), providing case management services and improving access to community-based recovery resources for up to 90 ElderCare clients over 14-16 months. 


Check out the press release to learn more about this innovative program (pdf).

The Summer 2014 newsletter is now online

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The Summer 2014 edition of Odyssey House News is now available! Read about our supportive housing openings, the latest art show, new grants, and more. Click here to read it (pdf). Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments or on our Facebook wall. If you’d like to receive a copy in the mail, please email your contact information to info(at)odysseyhouseinc.org.

Odyssey House opens second supportive housing program in the Bronx

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More than 100 community leaders, government partners, Odyssey House board members, staff and supporters gathered in the Bronx on April 24th for the Tinton Avenue ribbon cutting ceremony. Tinton Avenue is our second supportive housing program to open in this month.

The event featured tenant-led tours of the buildings and speeches by Moira Tashjian of the NYS Office of Mental Health and Cynthia Stuart of the SupportiveHousing Network of New York. In addition, Adrienne F., a tenant, spoke of her experience being homeless and how having a home has improved her life:  “When you’re in a shelter, you’re not living – you’re merely existing. Now I have a chance at being more self-sufficient and reaching my goals. I can also think more clearly and take better care of myself.”
Photo caption: The architects, contractors, consultants, funders, and Odyssey House management team responsible for the Tinton Avenue development celebrate the official opening. From left, Nick Lettire, Lettire Construction; Joe Olive, Jr., Olive Branch Consulting; Caren Abate and James Lupoli, NYS Office of Mental Health; Tina Mitchell, Odyssey House project manager; Moira Tashjian and Budd Isaacson, NYS Office of Mental Health; Peter Provet, Ph.D., Odyssey House president and chief executive officer; Durga Vallabhaneni, Odyssey House chief financial and administrative officer; Kevin Hoffman, The Richman Group; Amy Larovere and Thomas Wong, A. Larovere Consulting; Akiko Kyei-Aboagye and David Hirsch, Urban Architectural Initiatives.

First green supportive housing building opens in the Bronx

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Odyssey House officially opened its first green supportive housing building on Thursday, April 10th. Located on Soundview Avenue, the building provides permanent housing for 56 single, low income adults living with special needs. We’ll be posting more photos and details after our second building, Tinton Avenue, opens on April 24th. In the meantime, check out this post by our friends at the Supportive Housing Network of New York and watch this clip from News 12 Bronx.


Photo caption: Odyssey House management and board members gather to cut the ribbon. Front row, John Tavolacci, EVP, chief operating officer; Annise Weaver, senior director of admissions & residential support services; Peter Provet, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer; Colleen Beagen, VP, director of human resources; Stephen Gross, Marianne Guschwann, M.D., and George Rosenfeld, Odyssey House Board of Trustees; Durga Vallabhaneni, SVP, chief financial and administrative officer. Back row, Janice Slaughter, director of mental health and housing services; Jeff Savoy, VP, director of clinical support services; Darrin Brown, senior director of correctional & residential youth programs; Whittaker Wright, program director, Soundview Avenue and Tinton Avenue; Isobelle Surface, SVP, director of communications; Justin Mitchell, VP, director of adult residential services.

 

Two new designs for supportive housing

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Urban Architectural Initiatives has completed two supportive housing projects in the Bronx for single, low-income adults living with special needs, developed by the social service agency Odyssey House. The five-story, 35,000-square-foot project on Soundview Avenue in the South Central section provides housing for 56 residents. Located on an unusually shaped triangular site that used to be occupied by a gas station, the project is now the organization’s first green project, designed to achieve LEED Silver certification. The building is clad in a glass-fiber reinforced rain-screen system with a transparent glass façade fronting the corner entry and lounge areas above, and is accented with painted metal panels. Punched windows are designed to take advantage of natural ventilation. The program of community functions in the basement opens up onto a sunken courtyard, which is terraced from its lowest level to the surrounding grade. The 38,000-square-foot, four-story project on Tinton Avenue in the Morrisania section houses 65 residents. The design responds to its corner site with a tower-like projection clad in a transparent curtain wall showcasing double-height tenant lounges and program spaces. The rear yard includes an amphitheater and a performance platform. Tenants in both buildings have access to the organization’s comprehensive social services programs, including substance abuse and mental health treatment, community-based recovery networks, and educational and vocational services, as along with a communal dining room, lounges, and a gym. Both projects were developed with support from the New York State Office of Mental Health.