Recovery Centers

Isabel Byon 0:00

The New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports , or OASAS , provides this podcast as a public service . Thoughts and opinions expressed do not necessarily represent or reflect those of the agency or state . This is Addiction: The Next Step .

Jerry Gretzinger 0:18

Jerry Gretzinger , here , your host for Addiction , the Next Step coming to you from the New York State Offices of Addiction Services and Supports . You know , at OASAS , we have four pillars right that we focus on , and they are prevention , treatment , harm reduction and recovery . And today our topic is going to focus in on the last of those , that's , recovery and , specifically , recovery centers . And maybe you're saying to yourself okay , a recovery center , I've heard about it . What is it ? What do they do ? What do people who go get out of it ? Well , those are the questions we're going to answer today , and we brought in somebody who knows a thing or two about them , Jessica Feliciano . She's the Senior Director Recovery Services with Samaritan Daytop Village . Jessica , thanks for sitting down with us today .

Jessica Feliciano 0:59

Thank you for having me , Jerry .

Jerry Gretzinger 1:00

And I want to start with you know we talk about recovery centers and these . You know it's sort of surprising to think that there haven't always been recovery centers , but you were there kind of right at the onset of this whole idea to have a recovery center back in 2009 , 2010 , you were telling me . So I'm going to let you start our story there . How did the whole idea of having recovery centers come about ?

Jessica Feliciano 1:24

So , yeah , in 2009 , I was working for Phoenix House and after doing some interviews with individuals that were about to leave treatment or had left treatment , we realized that they needed a place to stay connected , to continue their journey on their recovery , and so we submitted for an RFP . And in 2010 , we were awarded the first recovery center , which was Bronx Community Recovery Center .

Jerry Gretzinger 1:52

And so that was in 2010 . And I was just mentioning that before that people would go through treatment and once they completed that program it was like all right , good luck , hope , everything goes well , and there wasn't like a continuing connection with these people .

Jessica Feliciano 2:07

Correct . There was no continuum of care , really Like there was a graduation if , hopefully , the program that they were completing had an alumni association where they could have some connection and possibly meet once or twice a year . But that ongoing connection was not there . So that's what the recovery centers played a part . And then after 2010 , when we opened our recovery center , we saw how successful it was and OASAS and SAMHSA really wanted to see more of these and got more involved and we opened a recovery center in Brooklyn which is still up and running , glad to say it's ran by Sean . It's called the Brooklyn Community Recovery Center .

Jerry Gretzinger 2:50

And that's great . I'm so glad that it started as strongly as it did and that we obviously saw the value in it , and I think for some people now , today , it's like wow . Like I said , can't believe that this wasn't always something that was available to people , but talk about when that recovery center first opened its doors and you started to see how important it could be for people . What was that importance ? What was it delivering to people who'd been through , you know , a treatment process ? How did it help them stay in recovery ?

Jessica Feliciano 3:20

Yes , so the main thing that helped was peer professionals . Right , we have individuals with shared lived experience who have walked the life that they are walking and can assist them in breaking down some barriers , connecting them to some social supports in their community , resources in their community . So that's where we saw the value of peer professionals .

Jerry Gretzinger 3:44

And when you say resources , I mean somebody's going through a treatment process and they come to an end . There's could be a whole host of things that they need to now be able to , you know , live their lives substance free , and that could be things like a home employment right .

Jessica Feliciano 3:59

Correct . It could be something as simple , as I don't have an ID . Can you help me get an ID ? It could be something , as I need detox . I had a lapse . It could be I no longer have my children in my life . I have an ACS case . Can you help me advocate with me ? Can you go accompany me to my appointments ? It looks completely different for everyone .

Jerry Gretzinger 4:22

And so I know today you're with Samaritan and I said you were with Phoenix House originally when these opened up and certainly over the past 15 years you know , as we see what's successful , what's most helpful , things change , programs get added . What is the picture today ? If somebody goes to a recovery center , what can they expect ?

Jessica Feliciano 4:42

They can expect that we're going to foster a welcoming , supportive environment for them . They can expect that they're going to be treated with respect , no stigma attached , no judgment . They're going to be helped .

Jerry Gretzinger 4:57

And I would imagine too , if somebody is concerned about going in because you talk about stigma A lot of times , that can be such a barrier to people seeking treatment or even continuum of recovery . There's no expectations of the people coming in Again . Stigma is certainly not something they need to worry about . What are some of the hesitations that you see , though , that still might keep somebody from walking in that door ?

Jessica Feliciano 5:19

The unknown right . They don't know what they're going to expect when they walk in the door , the first thing that they may ask is are you going to charge my Medicaid ? Do you need my Medicaid ? And we're like no , our services are completely free . How do you feel , though ? Would you like a sandwich ? Would you like a cup of coffee ? So we're you know , we're building that trust , we're letting them know we're here for you , whatever that looks like .

Jerry Gretzinger 5:42

So basically someone in recovery , any type of need that might have , the recovery center is there to help them reach that .

Jessica Feliciano 5:49

Correct . And the word recovery is very broad , right , because we're meeting people where they're at wherever they say they're in recovery . So it could be someone who is seeking recovery , or in recovery , someone who is practicing harm reduction , who is minimizing their use . It could be someone who's on Medicaid assisted treatment . It could be someone who doesn't know what they want yet .

Jerry Gretzinger 6:16

Yeah , and so you just kind of touched on my next question too . It's called a recovery center and we talk about , you know , prevention , treatment , harm reduction , recovery , recovery , sort of being the last of those four and someone's gone through treatment and now they're living in recovery , because it's an ongoing journey , not a destination . But if somebody is not yet at a point where they're in recovery , they're still welcome to walk into a recovery center and say I want to be in recovery . Can you help me find a path there ?

Jessica Feliciano 6:44

Absolutely . We connect them with one of our peer professionals , they have a one-on-one session , they develop a wellness plan and we take it from there .

Jerry Gretzinger 6:52

So for someone who was there , you know at day one , you know when the whole idea of recovery centers first started coming about , to see that it's been successful , to see that there is more recovery centers coming about , it's got to be , it's got to make you feel pretty good that this was a good idea . Other people said , yeah , it's a great idea and that it's continuing to grow the way it is .

Jessica Feliciano 7:14

Absolutely . It warms my heart . This is such a need . Our peer professionals are change agents . They inspire hope . They have walked the walk , they know what a person needs and they can walk them through it .

Jerry Gretzinger 7:29

Oh , that's terrific .

Jerry Gretzinger 7:30

So let me ask you this now too . I mean , again , we're talking about more and more recovery centers popping up for where you are . Now somebody says hey , you know , I'm downstate , I want to find out where I can get a hold of these people . I think there's something they can do to help me . How do they go about it ? Phone number , address , website , what do you want

Connecting With Samaritan's Recovery Centers

Jerry Gretzinger 7:46

?

Jessica Feliciano 7:46

So Samaritan has two recovery centers . We have Park Queens , that is in the Jamaica location . The number is 929-244-15 . Sorry , 1445 . Our email address is park@ samaritanvillage . org . Okay , our Park Bronx Center is 929-244-1500 . And that email address is parkbronx@samaritanvillage . org . They can call or email and we'll connect them immediately with a peer professional .

Jerry Gretzinger 8:17

Yeah , and you know you mentioned before too sometimes just the unknown is what makes people hesitate to make that phone call , to walk in that door , send that email . But hopefully they've heard this today and that there's no expectations , there's no stigma . Certainly , Just get connected and start working together with the Recovery Center , because the work you guys are doing is great .

Jessica Feliciano 8:38

Thank you .

Jerry Gretzinger 8:39

Thank you for sitting down with us to share more information about it and I know hopefully we've reached some people with this today . Thanks so much for checking out this episode of Addiction: The Next Step, I'm Jerry Gretzinger . Until we talk to you again next time , be well .