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Recovery in the News
Recovery center will open today in Chesterfield
Wesley P. Hester
Times-Dispatch
March 17, 2008
The drop-in peer support site will aid substance abusers
When a new recovery center run by those who have experienced drug and alcohol addictions opens today, it will be a first for Chesterfield County.
It will be also be one of the first such facilities in Virginia, say the organizers of the Substance Abuse and Addiction Recovery Alliance Center for Recovery, a drop-in peer support center.
Located off Turner Road in the Cloverleaf Office Park, the center was established with the help of a $1.4 million federal grant last year from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
The need for it has been long recognized, said Dave Mangano, Chesterfield's strategic manager for consumer and family affairs.
"In 2005, people were waiting 47 days for help with substance-abuse problems," Mangano said. "That's too long."
Now, the wait for treatment is down to about 25 days, but Jean Govoni, the new center administrator, said she knows from experience that it's still too long a wait for help.
"I'll tell you from being one of those people that you could die," she said. "People need to have services when they seek them."
The center will provide that, she says, by offering free help to anyone who drops in, providing support for recovery through education and guidance.
Initially, there will be two recovery coaches and seven peer leaders, all of whom are recovering from addiction problems themselves. Govoni pointed to the lack of hierarchy as a crucial element, allowing those in need to enable themselves.
The idea of peer-run support centers is relatively new, said Govoni, citing programs in other states such as Connecticut and Pennsylvania as evidence of success.
"Part of the recovery process is helping someone else," she said, adding that part of the mission is to destigmatize the issue of addiction and recovery while promoting a healthy lifestyle.
"We need healthy, happy people who can be part of the community instead of apart from the community," she said.
The center, which includes a computer lab and a resource library, does not take the place of medical treatment or 12-step programs, Govoni explained, but will offer immediate emotional support and links to other steps in recovery.
Providing information on detox and counseling as well as help with finding housing, food and clothing when necessary would all be part of the job for employees of the center, Govoni said.
To help with that, SAARA has worked hand-in-hand on the program with its grant partner, the McShin Foundation, a Henrico-based recovery community organization founded in 2004.
"We hope it will catch on," said John Shinholser, president and founder of the foundation. "We need to convince the state to support these kinds of centers."
Govoni is enthusiastic that the program will find support not only in Chesterfield, but throughout the region. She said her involvement was a career highlight and a recovery milestone.
"Getting in recovery is the best thing I've ever done and the thing I'm most proud of," she said, adding that being involved with the center is a close second.
"I believe this is a calling," she said.