September is National Recovery Month, and we’re thrilled to highlight and celebrate the work of four of our partners this month. First up, Communicare and Metro Inclusive Health. Watch this space as well as our Facebook and Twitter for more.
Communicare has many amazing success stories, but a favorite is surely this one: MM was an IV heroin user who completed treatment successfully and thoroughly followed recommendations through outpatient treatment. In spite of some struggles, she was able to maintain her recovery. After eight months in recovery, she began working as a Communicare recovery Support Specialist and helped build a program to help individuals with substance-related misdemeanor charges like DUI 1 or a minor in possession. She was recently accepted into nursing school and is beginning a new chapter in her life.
Communicare gauges success by the number and frequency of heartfelt hugs at Walmart from former clients and their families’ reports of how well they’re doing. They also believe that coming back to treatment is another sign of success—a demonstration that their client has hope and trust that Communicare can help. Building trust and lasting relationships is a vital part of their approach to treatment.
Communicare supports peer-led recovery by utilizing more than 10 peer support specialists to lead recovery support groups in all six counties they serve, even offering offer multiple peer-led groups each week in some counties.
Their mission is to always put clients first. Communicare staff work with a multitude of agencies across the state—and even out-of-state—to provide all necessary resources for clients through every step of the recovery process.
Learn more about Communicare at havenhousems.org.
Metro Inclusive Health’s RE-LINK Program improves health outcomes for individuals transitioning from local jails back into the community in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. RE-LINK staff work with individuals before and after incarceration in one-on-one and group settings to support their successful re-entry.
Their work is multi-faceted because clients often struggle with addiction or mental health needs on top of the basic, everyday necessities of food, shelter and employment upon release from jail. The avalanche of needs can be overwhelming, leaving the client feeling hopeless.
One recently incarcerated participant was struggling greatly to get back on her feet while also working to overturn her social security denial, due to her incarceration. With guidance and support from her RE-LINK Case Manager, she utilized community resources for legal aid and mental health evaluations that ultimately led to reinstatement of her social security income. Most importantly, now she can truly focus on her ongoing mental health treatment and recovery.
RE-LINK measures client successes and achievements by understanding and using community resources, which can include accessing medical services, obtaining healthcare coverage, and joining behavioral and substance abuse treatment, to name a few. METRO cannot meet every one of their needs alone, so the buy-in and support provided by all of the providers and agencies in the Tampa Bay community is imperative and at the core of client success.
METRO takes a holistic approach to addressing client needs, which often begins at the peer level, and so they offer several peer-led recovery groups and services to address each client’s varied needs.
Clients can often feel lost and alone and may have few or no healthy coping skills. RE-LINK staff work diligently in the community to build recovery-oriented systems of care engaging all stakeholders. METRO’s first imperative is that case managers, counselors and an assortment of community providers work together on behalf of clients to address their needs in a whole-person manner, because “when we’re all on the same page and focused on the client’s goals, the positive outcomes are endless.”
Learn more about Metro Inclusive Health at metrotampabay.org.
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