Jackson Recovery Resource Center is part of the Home of New Vision program offering treatment and support
By Jo Mathis
Legal News
Cooley Law Professor Lauren Rousseau says that volunteering for a local treatment program for the addicted helps to ease the pain, helplessness, and frustration that she experienced when dealing with addiction in someone she loved.
In February of 2010, Rousseau became the legal guardian for her youngest son's best friend after his mother died. Jake was a 17-year-old high school senior when he came to live with Rousseau and her family. Over the next two years, his drug use escalated into full-blown heroin addiction.
Tragically, his life ended when he was murdered by a man who then killed himself. He would have turned 20 in four days.
"During those two years with Jake, I learned a tremendous amount about addiction and recovery, and the heartbreak of the last six months of his life and his death created a passion in me to help people like Jake and me," Rousseau said.
Rousseau is now a board member with Home of New Vision, a nonprofit agency that provides treatment and support for people suffering from addiction.
"Home of New Vision is not a large organization, but they are comprehensive in the services they provide and the services are stellar and well-respected," said Rousseau.
"They have a very compassionate approach, they listen to their clients, recognize that addiction isn't one-size-fits-all, and neither is recovery. They work with their clients to find the best fit of programs/approaches that suit the clients' needs."
HNV founder and CEO Glynis Anderson has overcome nearly 20 years of addiction to find lasting recovery. She earned her MSW and worked with addicts before starting HNV.
"I started watching women in the community dying of this disease, and I was going to these funerals, with these kids walking to the podium crying for the mothers they loved regardless if she was an addict," she recalled. "I thought: We need a place for these women to go, to get them some resources, support, and love."
She started HNV in 1996 with a single recovery residence. Over time, HNV added additional recovery homes, and there are now four--two for men and two for women, as well as an outpatient treatment program, an inpatient residential program with detoxification, case managers, peer supports, and various educational and action groups.
Most of the facilities are in Washtenaw County, but HNV also supports a Jackson Recovery Resource Center at 407 W. Michigan Avenue in Jackson focused on the needs of men and women with substance use or other disorders. In addition to case managers, peer recovery supports offer meetings, appointments, leisure activities and recovery meetings.
Program Manager Melissa Tinervia said that getting the community involved in the center is the key to its success.
"Jackson County has a great understanding of the Recovery-Oriented Systems of Care," said Tinervia. "We do really well with community collaboration; with both our funders and other local agencies. Everybody is really involved in trying to figure out how to make the system more user-friendly for individuals who are seeking recovery, or looking at getting into any kind of treatment or help."
She said the center has done a lot in the past couple of years to integrate with the mental health system, as well.
"Everybody out here seems to be on the same page as far as collaborating," she said. "We have a lot of events that are safe places for people to come. On Friday nights, we have sober activities for people who are either seeking recovery or on the fence. No judgment involved. We also work with the Recovery Court, and have so much going on in different directions. It's really nice to be this busy."
HNV Associate Executive Director Julie Cushman said success is measured in the lives of those who go on to recover and make something of their lives, and that success is partly measured by the hopes and goals of those who formerly had neither.
"The first part is getting someone to stop using, but there is so much more to it that will keep somebody in recovery," she said. "So we encourage people not to use and people can grit their teeth to not use, but if they don't have a life and they don't have a purpose, there's no reason for them to stay in recovery."
When Rousseau heard that actor Cory Monteith was dead of a heroin overdose, her resolve to help other struggling addicts was reinforced.
"It drives home once again," she says, "how tragic and powerful this disease can be."
Published: Thu, Jul 25, 2013
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