Alcohol and Drug Recovery Support

Target Population

Our target population is comprised of men 18 years of age and older.  Most of our clients are “chronic relapsers,” which means they have struggled with addiction most of their lives, beginning in adolescence. Many of the men entering our program are homeless and unemployed. As many as one-third to one-half of our participants are “dually diagnosed” (chemical dependency with a mental health disorder). Some participants may have an undiagnosed mental illness, so we rely on mental healthcare providers to screen our residents for mental illnesses as needed.

The need for our services is so great in Middle Tennessee that we receive calls daily from a diverse range of entities to provide recovery support services for clients who have completed detox and/or treatment. Referring sources include alcohol and drug treatment facilities, psychiatric treatment facilities, the Department of Veterans Affairs, recovery court (DC-4), hospitals, churches, and individuals.

Also, our target population deals with all the social ills of poverty. In addition to employment barriers, our clients typically lack the resources to acquire the medical treatment they need. Additionally, affordable housing is a tremendous hurdle for our participants because they have little or no income when they enter our recovery support program. Our clients commonly have a poor work history, no transportation, no valid driver’s license or other identification documents, and a criminal history. Many of our participants have weak social support networks; often, the relationships they are involved in are toxic to their recovery. Some of our participants are lacking in education and work skills. As a result, it can be challenging for our program participants to compete in today’s highly competitive job market. Not having a job obviously affects income, self-worth, self-sustainability, and safety and security concerns, which are “triggers” that must be overcome for our clients to maintain sobriety and good physical and mental health.

It is not unusual for individuals in recovery to relapse multiple times during the lifetime process of recovery. While clinical protocols successfully detoxify and stabilize, the recovery process is a long and arduous road. It should be understood that relapse happens in the process of recovery. Recovery and sustainable sobriety require a lifetime of vigilance, accountability, and often-mental health treatment for co-occurring disorders.

Detoxification and substance abuse treatment are prerequisites before men are accepted into our intense yet compassionate recovery support ministry.

Related Activities

Our recovery community has six levels: Guest, freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, and graduate. It takes a minimum of approximately six months to progress through the program. Individuals must meet the requirements within each level before progression to a higher level within the community is considered.

A “snapshot” of our program: (see full guidelines here.) A person who enters our recovery support program begins as a “guest.” A guest is anyone within the first two weeks of our program. (may last longer if all objectives are not met to qualify moving to the next level.) The individual should be looking for work and attending meetings. A guest must complete at least 4 hours of audio/visual enrichment, attend a minimum of 5 meetings per week (includes 2 mandatory in-house meetings), faithfully observe an 8 PM Curfew, complete at least one community service hour for each week in the program, make a reasonable effort to seek employment and current on rent before moving to the next level.

Responsibilities

(All six levels) All residents commit to:

1. Abstain entirely from drug and alcohol use or possession.
2. Be at mandatory house meetings.
3. Complete at least one community service hour per week.
4. Attend the required number of meetings that correspond to their level.
5. Complete assigned chores.
6. Pay a $25.00 drug screening deposit (refunded upon successful program completion if not used or test clean)
7. Observe appropriate curfew corresponding to their level.
8. Have a sponsor.