Recovery Café Longmont works to reconnect with members since reopening - Boulder Daily Camera

takanadalagi.blogspot.com

After more than a month of virtual services, Andrew Spidle — the longest running member of Recovery Café Longmont — is getting to see his fellow members face-to-face again.

The nonprofit re-opened some of its in-person services last week, giving Spidle the chance to connect with people, sans computer screen.

“It’s good to see everybody,” Spidle said.

Recovery Café offers support to anyone in recovery, including people working toward sobriety, overcoming trauma or seeking mental health services. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the nonprofit closed to in-person services mid-March to mid-July, before opening through late November, but ultimately having to to go virtual again.

Starting on Feb. 2, Recovery Café began offering two days of in-person services a week. The nonprofit will be open for in-person services from noon to 3 p.m. Tuesdays and Saturdays in the basement of the Central Presbyterian Church, 402 Kimbark St.

People who visit the cafe Tuesday will find open cafe hours. On Saturdays, there will be Recovery Circles for both men and women, as well as Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. People can also set up resource appointments with peer support specialists. A lunchtime meal will also be available on days when the café is open. In between in-person services, phone support is available 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and is open to anyone in the community.

Lisa Searchinger, the nonprofit’s executive director, said Recovery Café ramped up its virtual services, offering YouTube classes, Zoom meetings and four times its usual phone support. From Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, the nonprofit hosted 88 Recovery Circles, 34 of which were virtual and 54 in person, during that time period. Recovery Café also offered a combined 37 in-person and virtual School for Recovery Classes.

While virtual efforts helped to keep the nonprofit’s services available, Searchinger said it didn’t feel the same as being able to connect with members face-to-face.

“Isolation and loneliness are crippling for all human beings,” Searchinger said, “but especially for folks that have been traumatized and people who perhaps are trying to stay strong through their recovery journey. Being back together in person can help them stay strong along their recovery path.”

Searchinger added that some of the members served by the café can be especially isolated, with a few not having access to the internet, cell phone service or social support network at home.

Searchinger said working to re-connect with members, who lost touch with the nonprofit, will be a priority. A drop in enrolled members can be seen through a comparison of 2019 and 2020 data, which shows 82 members enrolled in 2019 and 38 members enrolled last year.

Alternating between virtual and in-person services made staying connected with new members a challenge, Spidle said.

“It’s been good, but slow,” Spidle said. “We have new people coming in looking for the next resource (like food stamps or housing). We try and guide them to the next resource, but then we lose contact with them because we have to close again.”

Since re-opening, Spidle, has been making the most of face-to-face connections.

He shared how he has been able to get important messages out, including Boulder County Public Health’s warning that fentanyl-tainted street drugs have been detected. Spidle also described connecting with and showing support for a woman who summoned the bravery to get help for alcohol treatment, after months of feeling apprehensive about going to a meeting. It’s this kind of personal connection that can be lost in a virtual world, Spidle said.

When the nonprofit re-opened temporarily to allow in-person services in July, things were slow at first, but they picked up as more people learned the services were there.

“It’s really hard for folks in crisis, let alone recovery, to transition like that,” Searchinger said. “It takes a while for the word to get out. I just hope we don’t have to close again.”

It isn’t yet known when Recovery Café will be able to open its in-person services full time.  Searchinger said the nonprofit remains in close contact with Boulder County Public Health to stay up to date on the coronavirus situation, and what operations are safe. The café is also abiding by public health orders, with everyone wearing masks, social distancing and regularly deep cleaning the nonprofit’s space.

As to what it’s like being able to see the nonprofit’s members again, Searchinger said: “It’s everything.”

“It’s wonderful to see them back in the café — masks and all,” Searchinger said. “It’s the core of our work to be together. We know that human connection is a basic human need.”

Let's block ads! (Why?)

"cafe" - Google News
February 11, 2021 at 06:47AM
https://ift.tt/2OsAp5R

Recovery Café Longmont works to reconnect with members since reopening - Boulder Daily Camera
"cafe" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2FkbMR3
https://ift.tt/3c4yPxW