recovery

Dr. Provet on the Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health

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It couldn’t be clearer. The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health (The New York Times, Nov 17) is a wake-up call that we are facing a public health challenge that is ‘taking an enormous toll on individuals, families, and society.’ The financial costs of alcohol and illicit drug use combined are $442 billion. But the personal costs are much, much greater. At least 85 people a day (some reports say over 100) are dying from opioid-related overdoses.

Addiction costs infographicIt can’t go on. The death rate from what is a preventable, and treatable disease, is unconscionable. The financial costs are unsustainable.

Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy makes a strong case for at last treating addiction as a public health not criminal justice issue. This is critical. Stigma and punishment combined have stopped people from getting help; have tied up our law enforcement agencies in a vicious and dangerous cycle of recidivism; and have claimed the lives of thousands and thousands of young Americans.

Let’s bring addiction out of the shadows of shame and commit to treating it like any other medical or mental health issue.

Giving thanks every day

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In celebration of our 50th anniversary, each month we will be sharing a story that highlights one of our programs or treatment populations. This month we would like to introduce you Marjorie, a member of our Tinton Avenue supportive housing community who has been a part of Odyssey House for almost four years and is celebrating her fifth year of sobriety.

Supportive housing tenantAlmost four years ago, at the age of 50, Marjorie had a major psychotic breakdown, leading to hospitalization and a diagnosis of schizophrenia. On top of that she was also struggling to maintain a fragile sobriety. For over 30 years, Marjorie had found solace in illegal drugs as a way to cope with her traumatic childhood. Realizing her situation was critical, she knew if she was going to save her life it was now or never. She grabbed hold of that chance.

After several relapses and treatment attempts, Marjorie started on the road to recovery in 2013 when she was admitted to the Odyssey House Harbor, a transitional mental health housing program. During her time at the Harbor, Marjorie improved her physical and mental well-being and began to regain her confidence. She made such progress in following her treatment that she was offered permanent housing at Odyssey House Tinton Avenue the following year.

Since moving into Tinton Avenue in 2014, Marjorie has been a conscientious tenant and neighbor. She handles her responsibilities as a tenant with respect and enthusiasm; participates in group activities; and provides helpful insights to her fellow tenants.

Outgoing and approachable, one of her neighbors describes her as “woman who cares passionately for everyone.” Another adds, “Marjorie is known for being supportive of her neighbors who are struggling with addiction and mental illness and freely lends her time and compassion so we don’t feel alone.”

When asked what she wants to do with her life, Marjorie is clear: she hopes to become a peer counselor and put her experience and professional training to work to the benefit of others who, like her, have struggled against enormous odds to lead independent lives.

In her pursuit to become a peer counselor, Marjorie completed training in overdose prevention and recovery coaching at our outpatient services and established a peer support network at Tinton Avenue.

She’s also made it a priority to continue her journey of recovery. She attends Narcotics Anonymous meetings and is a regular attendee at the Odyssey House-sponsored outpatient recovery network where she participates in therapy sessions, smoking cessation workshops, and yoga classes, and stays involved in her local church.

This year Marjorie achieved something she never thought possible: graduating from the Resource Training Center as a Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor Trainee (CASAC-T).

Living in a secure and safe community surrounded by people who support her recovery is something Marjorie gives thanks for every day.

Ryan’s marathon motivation: Inner strength and self-esteem

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Three years ago, Ryan ran her first NYC Marathon with the Run for Your Life team. In two days, she will be running her second. Returning to Odyssey House after a relapse earlier this year, Ryan is determined to make this time count. She sees this marathon as a symbol of her commitment to recovery and hopes her accomplishment will inspire others to challenge themselves.

Marathon runners recoveryRyan has worked hard to improve her health – quitting smoking, eating healthier – and has found strength in the support of her team. “We don’t leave people behind. We’re always checking on each other, even in the program, to make sure we’re taking care of ourselves, physically and mentally.” As a returning runner, Ryan has taken a leadership role on the team. “I have grown so much in the past year. I’m not just a teammate, I’m a positive role model. My teammates even nicknamed me Coach Stevens!”

The marathon team has been an integral part of Ryan’s recovery. “Running has given me the inner strength and self-esteem I need to be my best self. Training for the marathon has made me realize that I need to set goals for myself; reaching my running goals has inspired me to reach for greater opportunities in life,” she says.

As a result of her increased ambitions, Ryan enrolled in a CASAC-T (Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor Trainee) program and plans to pursue a degree in social work and recreation therapy. “Run for Your Life has motivated me to stay connected and to be a positive mentor to others after treatment.”

To track Ryan’s progress throughout the marathon, download the official TCS NYC Marathon app and enter bib # 18957.

Team Odyssey House runs for recovery

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The feeling of accomplishment

 

Marathon runner
Kyle with COO John Tavolacci at the Poland Spring Kickoff race last week.

Nine months ago, if you’d asked Kyle, 30, if he’d be running the NYC Marathon, he would have laughed. Though he had been athletic his entire life, he was in a very different place then. That all changed when he came to Odyssey House.

Soon after entering treatment, Kyle joined WE R FIT!, our wellness program for clients, and became involved with our Run for Your Life team. Initially reluctant to get involved, he quickly found that he loves long distance running. “The feeling of accomplishment after a run – you can’t beat that,” he says. Kyle also discovered that it was benefiting more than just his physical health. “I have a history of anxiety and difficulty dealing with stress, and running helps me relax and cope in a healthier way.”

Training with the team has been a positive, motivating experience, keeping Kyle engaged in both running and treatment. In addition to marking his own successes, Kyle enjoys watching his teammates strive towards their goals. “It’s remarkable watching people progress as they commit to the program,” he says.

“Training with people who have marathon experience has been very helpful. I’m pretty excited to run, so I’m often tempted to run faster than I should at the start, but Andre and the mentors have helped me pace myself better.” On Sunday, Kyle will be running with a returning volunteer to guide him. He hopes to run an 8:30 mile, but in the end, it’s not how quickly he gets to the finish line that matters – only that he gets there.

“Why not give back?”

NYC marathon runner
Ainsley after his sixth NYC marathon in 2015.

When Ainsley, 29, entered Odyssey House in 2009, the only running he’d ever done was on the high school football field. By the time he’d completed treatment, he’d finished two marathons. This Sunday, Ainsley is about to run his seventh.

What keeps him coming back to train with the Run for Your Life team, five years after finishing treatment? “The excitement of watching people accomplish something this big is almost addictive!”

“I want to give people the same experience I had as a first-time marathoner,” he says. “It’s a great feeling to guide a new runner – showing them the ropes, supporting them on their journey. Andre and the team helped me so much, why not give back?”

Ainsley is running with Mike on Sunday and is looking forward to being by his side when he crosses his first marathon finish line. “I just want Mike to have fun – it’s not about speed or time, it’s about enjoying yourself and doing something you never thought you could or would ever do.”

Support Team Odyssey House!

On Sunday, November 6th, Kyle, Ainsley, and other 44 clients, staff, alumni, and volunteers will take on the NYC Marathon and they need your support. If you’re in NYC, stop by the Mile 19 Water Station (1st Ave between 115th-116th Streets) to hand out water to the marathon runners and cheer on our team! If you can’t make it but would like to support the team, please click here to make a donation.

“I am very happy, and I owe it to Odyssey House.”

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In celebration of our 50th anniversary, each month we will be sharing a story that highlights one of our programs or treatment populations. This month we had a moment to catch up with former ElderCare client Sheryl, who is now two years sober and still works closely with our Outpatient program.

Elder addict recoveryIn 2014, Sheryl, 53, was early in her recovery. She had recently completed a rehabilitation program and, though she felt good about her new life, she knew from past experiences that she needed the support of peers who understand the complexities that come from struggling with an addiction for over 30 years. As an older adult who had been addicted to crack cocaine for so long, Sheryl felt that the challenges she faced were unique and needed to be treated as such.

The Odyssey House ElderCare program gave her the hope and push she needed to stay on track to continue her recovery. Today, Sheryl is two years clean and “feels wonderful.” She credits much of her success to the counselors who were with her “every step of the way.” As someone who typically kept to herself, her counselors encouraged her to open up and speak during her group therapy sessions. Sheryl took this opportunity to challenge herself and found engaging with her peers made her feel comfortable and understood. “I want to be able to tell my story, and show others that living clean and sober is a wonderful way to live life.”

Sheryl is committed to spreading positive messages. She is an integral member of our Odyssey House community and helps facilitate the Women’s Group at our Outpatient program in the Bronx. She also reaches out to others in her community that have the same struggles she has. “I just want to give back and help the organization that helped me become who I am today.”

Sheryl is job seeking and will begin night school in the upcoming month to secure her high school equivalency.  She attends regular group therapies through Odyssey House and hopes to become a Recovery Coach through the program. “I am very happy, and I owe it to Odyssey House.”

Reaching recovery goals through running

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In celebration of our 50th anniversary, each month we will be sharing a story that highlights one of our programs or treatment populations. This month, we are profiling Ryan, who is training for the New York City Marathon as a member of our Run for Your Life Team.

 

woman recovery runner rehab
Ryan on a training run with team leader Andre Matthews (left) and her teammates.

After a two-decade struggle with a crack cocaine addiction, Ryan, 34, is ready to live the healthiest life she can. Since returning to Odyssey House last year, Ryan has been working to make better choices for herself and make this time in treatment her last.

During her first time at Odyssey House in 2013, Ryan admits that she wasn’t as committed as she needed to be to maintain her recovery. After leaving the program, she found herself returning to her old habits and she relapsed. Today, she has strengthened her resolve: “I know now that I have to change every aspect of my life, to focus on becoming a better me.”

With her new mindset, Ryan quit smoking, is eating healthier, and training to run the New York City Marathon for a second time. “The first time was to see if I could complete it, but this year it is about setting a personal best.” She credits much of this motivation to the Run for Your Life team, the Odyssey House-sponsored running group that promotes healthy living habits and keeps in contact with a network of recovery peers through twice-weekly training runs in Central Park.

“This is more than a team, it’s my second family,” Ryan says, something that is particularly important to her as her family resides in New England. The team keeps her dedicated to her sobriety and healthy lifestyle. “We help push each other towards success.” As a returning marathoner, she has taken on a leadership role within the team, mentoring the new runners and encouraging them to stick with it.

In addition, the therapeutic effects of running have helped Ryan with her anxiety and given her confidence to apply herself to bigger opportunities. She is in the process of becoming a Certified Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselor: “I want a career in helping people who have gone through similar situations to my own,” Ryan explains. “I know I can do anything I put my mind to, especially with the support of my team.”

Welcome to our new website!

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We are delighted to introduce you to our new website.

Our aim with this new site is to present Odyssey House through the experiences, hopes, and achievements of our clients. We talked to clients and staff from every program, listened carefully to what they had to say, and wove their stories into a narrative that proudly presents Odyssey House as an organization that offers hope and opportunity to all New Yorkers.

And then we went further.

For 50 years, Odyssey House has been helping New Yorkers start their lives over again. Not just clean, but with a clean slate. We call it “getting real” about recovery. And that’s more than a slogan. “Where recovery gets real” is Odyssey House’s way of supporting total well-being, so clients can live healthy, happy and substance-free lives.

Getting real means understanding the unique problems of New Yorkers because we’re New Yorkers, too.

Getting real means providing integrated, personalized treatment plans that address all of our clients’ needs — physical and mental health, home and family, and job and education.

Getting real means providing a support network of people who understand our clients and their challenges — for life.

We invite you to explore the website and let us know what you think on our Facebook or Twitter pages!

“Every minute I spent at Odyssey House was worth it.”

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In celebration of our 50th anniversary, each month we will be sharing a story that highlights one of our programs or treatment populations. Below is Ashley’s story, who recently completed residential treatment at Lafayette Avenue, our young women’s program in the Bronx.

Ashley 50th anniversaryAshley, 28, started using drugs and alcohol after graduating high school in Long Island. It started with the occasional use of marijuana and alcohol, mostly as a means of fitting in with her friends and dealing with low self-esteem. It also made it easier to ignore that she was directionless, in and out of college, unable to decide what to study or do with her life.

Her drug use developed into a full-fledged problem when she was 23. By then she was a new mother. To manage the trauma of escaping an abusive relationship with her daughter’s father and the stress of single parenthood Ashley, turned to cocaine, marijuana, and alcohol.

Her life became chaotic. She regularly left her daughter with her parents to go out with friends and started selling drugs. At various points, Ashley realized she had a problem and struggled to get help: she tried three different outpatient clinics over two years, but she never stayed clean for long.

Recognizing the dangers of her lifestyle, she sent her daughter to South Carolina to live with her grandmother for a little while. Shortly after, events took a serious turn. She was arrested for selling drugs. Because it was her first offense, the judge recommended Ashley get residential treatment and referred her to Odyssey House.

Ashley was admitted to the young adult women’s program in the Bronx last October. It took time, but once she adjusted to the structured environment, she began to feel herself change. Being in treatment “helped me open up to others, understand that the way I was living was wrong, and bridge the gap between me and my family,” she says. The groups were particularly beneficial in helping Ashley find peace. “The more I talked to my peers, the lighter my burden felt.”

Ashley says she now has better coping and communication skills and, thanks to vocational training, has a clearly defined career track she is passionate about. She was always interested in cooking – as a child, she could often be found helping her mom in the kitchen – so when it came time to choose a vocational training track, the culinary arts program was a natural fit. “My mom and I used to talk about opening a family-run Italian restaurant, so that’s what I’m working towards.”

Though she’s nervous about leaving treatment, Ashley has a few strategies to help ease the transition, by continuing treatment at a local outpatient program and finishing her culinary training. “I really benefited from the structure of the program, so I’m going to incorporate that into my day,” she says. Mostly, she’s motivated by the prospect of seeing her daughter again, and finally being the mother she deserves.

“I wish I could go back in time and tell my 18-year-old self ‘Slow down! There’s nothing but trouble ahead if you keep living like this.’ But all I can do is keep working on my recovery, and focus on my daughter. I can’t let her down again.

“If you have a problem, it’s okay to come to treatment. It gives you hope. Once you address certain issues, the pain goes away. You’ll come out a better person. I know I’m coming out a better person, a better mother. Every minute I spent at Odyssey House was worth it.”

Chasing Heroin

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On Tuesday night, PBS aired a new Frontline documentary, “Chasing Heroin,” chronicling the impact of the opioid epidemic as well as the efforts of law enforcement, social workers, and public defenders and prosecutors to save the lives of addicted people without locking them up. The entire documentary is streaming online and will air on WLIW/Channel 21 (PBS’s sister station) on Friday, February 26that 7pm.
The documentary was accompanied by four feature articles, which you can access below.
Drug Czar: Treating Substance Abuse as a Crime is “Inhumane” –  As the first former addict to run the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Michael Botticelli has a different perspective from any of his six predecessors. In this interview, Botticelli talks about his own struggles with addiction, the nation’s heroin and opioid epidemic, and why he says “we can’t arrest our way out of our problem.”
How the Heroin Epidemic Differs in Communities of Color – People develop addictions for a variety of reasons, which makes it difficult to gather concrete data on what’s happening in each community. Frontline spoke to experts and community outreach workers around the country to try to understand the differences. While some have followed a similar trajectory as the white community, a closer look at the epidemic in some communities of color reveals a different story.
The Options and Obstacles to Treating Heroin Addiction – For decades, treatment has centered on an abstinence-only approach, consisting of detox and rehab, accompanied by counseling or group therapy, many inspired by the 12-step model. But as deaths have surged, many experts have begun rethinking that approach, arguing that opiate addiction should be treated the same as a chronic disease — like diabetes or depression. Abstinence and counseling is not enough; medication must also be an option.
How Bad is the Opioid Epidemic? – The epidemic didn’t happen overnight. Over the course of more than a decade, it has grown into a problem destroying lives across the nation, regardless of age, race, wealth or location. Here’s a look at how it happened and who is most affected.

Odyssey House Gets Grant to Add Peer Mentors to Corrections Program in NYC

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Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly

The federal Department of Justice has awarded New York City–based Odyssey House a two-year, $300,000 grant for a pre- and postrelease peer mentoring and recovery program. The work will be done at the Edgecombe Correctional Facility and builds on the 45-day inprison treatment program Odyssey House currently operates at the facility for “technical” violators of parole — people who have not followed the rules set for them upon release. These rules may include staying off drugs. The program will provide a bridge from prison to community living during re-entry, when relapse is a risk. The Edgecombe Correctional Facility was established seven years ago through a joint effort with the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, the New York State Department of Correctional Services, the New York State Division of Parole and Odyssey House (seeADAW, June 23, 2008). About 80 percent of state prison inmates have a substance use disorder history. For the Edgecombe Peer Mentoring Program, Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselors work on-site to provide group recovery services under the Odyssey House grant. The approach will link parolees to peer mentors, who will act as their “recovery coaches,” according to a press release from Odyssey House. The post-release component will be provided by volunteers — people who have completed treatment and are in recovery. These peer mentors will have been trained in evidence-based programs. “We know we can break the cycle of addiction and incarceration when treatment, law enforcement, and criminal justice agencies work together to provide real alternatives that help people with substance use disorders find a new way of living that supports recovery, offers work and life skills, and protects against relapse and recidivism,” said Peter Provet, Ph.D., president and CEO of Odyssey House, in the press release.