National Recovery Month gets celebrated every day at Lexington’s Hope Center

The faces of recovery. The stories of hope. The statistics of success. That’s what we celebrate in September, which is National Recovery Month. But we also rejoice in them every day at the Hope Center and demonstrate to the community how long-term recovery is possible.

We can take hope in people like Donna, who was indicted in 2004 for drug possession, entered our recovery program and now is married, raising a child and employed helping single mothers at the One Parent Scholar House. She said she would be dead without the Hope Center.

And Jason, who spent 17 years using drugs and alcohol – even overdosing two weeks before entering the Hope Center. He now has his associate’s degree and serves as a mentor to others in recovery.

Those are just two of the faces and stories. The statistics from a recent survey are equally compelling: Opioid misuse dropped 95 percent for the 54 female clients and 86 percent for the 31 male clients who participated in recovery programs at the Hope Center and completed the surveys from the 2022 Recovery Center Outcome Study. Conducted by the University of Kentucky Center on Drug and Alcohol Research, it followed clients as they entered 18 Recovery Kentucky programs in fiscal year 2017-2020 and completed a 12-month follow-up survey between 2018 and 2021.

Here are some other statistics from the Hope Center men’s and women’s recovery programs that prove we have an effective blueprint for how to combat this epidemic:

▪ 82 percent of men reported illegal drug use at intake vs. 18 percent at follow-up. For women, those numbers dropped from 74 percent to 5 percent.

▪ 50 percent of men misused opioids at intake vs. 7 percent at follow-up. For women, those numbers dropped from 63 percent to 3 percent.

▪ 46 percent of men reported heroin use at intake vs. 11 percent at follow-up. For the women, those numbers dropped from 32 percent to 0 percent.

▪ 61 percent of men reported stimulant use at intake vs. 4 percent at follow-up. For the women, those numbers dropped from 45 percent to 3 percent.

▪ 15 percent of men were homeless at intake vs. 0 percent at follow-up. For the women, those numbers dropped from 28 percent to 10 percent.

▪ 52 percent of men were employed at least one month at intake vs. 81 percent at follow-up. For the women, those numbers increased from 32 percent to 69 percent.

There are three important factors for the success of the Hope Center and the other Recovery Kentucky programs.

First, the Hope Center has a long-term residential program. Clients typically spend at least six months with us, which gives them time to deal with multiple, inter-connected problems that have resulted in their addiction. They build a solid foundation for recovery and address other issues they may face, such as mental illness or a history of domestic abuse.

Second, we have professional staff members who oversee the program, many of whom overcame their own substance use issues. They understand the problems and provide the tools needed for recovery.

Third, we rely on peer mentors who have completed the program and stay through a transition period to help those who come after them. It’s an effective way to deliver recovery services that emphasizes both personal responsibility and mutual accountability as well as providing hope that a drug-free life is possible.

The Hope Center’s holistic and multi-pronged approach helps people become part of a healthy community and gives them the tools and resources they need in the future – and to prevent them from becoming a statistic on the overdose death report.

So as you can read, We Help, We Heal, We Give Hope here.

Rufus Friday is executive director of the Hope Center, which provides emergency shelter, food, and clothing 365 days a year to help the homeless and those with substance use disorder and mental health issues. See www.hopectr.org for more information.