Recovery
One in seven people have a substance use disorder. Drug addiction is a chronic brain disease that affects behavior. Recovery housing gives those suffering from addiction the best chance of recovering from their disease.
Transitional housing is very important to people working to recover from addictions. For many who enter rehabilitation programs, it is important to leave their original environment to get help. Lack of emotional, mental, physical and spiritual support in a person’s family of origin is often the root cause of drug abuse. Home, work and social environments can trigger relapse. Former friends or family members may be struggling with addictions or mental health issues, and these can cause stress or temptation that can lead to a potential relapse for a recovering addict.
In order to develop healthy habits and a daily routine without drug use, many people choose to transition into a sober living home. Most often, residents are allowed to stay in the home as long as they need to, with a typical stay being about one year.
Recovering from addiction is a long-term process. Recovery homes provide a safe, sober and supportive environment when a person’s original home cannot. These homes can serve as a critical transitional step for those leaving a rehabilitation facility, helping a person to find a stronger foothold in recovery before they enter independent living or return home.
Project Goals
Traditional housing differs from homeless shelters in that transitional living required active participation by the residents in community living, mentoring, training, and rehabilitative counseling. ALL residents are expected to be substance free and abstain from any drug and/or alcohol use while in residence. The women who come into Joppa House should have the desire to learn how to better their situation and be willing to take the steps necessary to attain independent and healthy living for themselves and their families.
Each woman in residency will be asked to participate and complete Stepping Stones, receiving a certificate upon completion. The women will be offered access to obtain training management, GED, recovery, and counseling.
Success will be measured by recovery, employment, independent housing, and implementing the life skills they have acquired during their tenure to sustain independent living.
Stepping Stones
Joppa House Life Skills Curriculum
Women are in need of coaching in the basic skills of life; child care, personal boundaries, cooking, housekeeping, employment skills, scheduling, submitting to authority, work ethics, budgeting, and finances. Each tenant of Joppa House will be asked to complete the coaching course to acquire these skills.
Stepping Stones is a curriculum that was developed by a committee consisting of two social workers, a teacher, and our Director, Ginger Stevens. The committee determined the specific needs of the targeted demographic consistent with the transitional home visions, determining which life applications needed to be developed to empower women and the knowledge and/or skills they need to become independent and productive citizens in our communities with the ultimate goal of breaking the cycle of poverty, dependence on government subsidy, and drug use.
The Stepping Stones curriculum has six “modules,” each module containing four units, one unit for each week of the month, with some units taking longer than others to complete, depending on the depth of the unit and the level of life skills each client has. Stepping Stones is offered as independent study in our programming requirements. Residents will receive a certificate of completion as residents accomplish their fulfillment of course objectives, recognizing their achievement and readiness to move on.
Evaluation
Each resident will be monitored and mentored, building long-term relationships with the women and their children (if applicable). While in residency, each person will be evaluated by a Case Manager on a weekly basis to review the implementation of the “Case Care Plan” developed upon admittance into the transitional home and to make adjustments if necessary.
To the best of our ability, each past resident will be evaluated for success post-residency. Long-term independent substance-free living is the goal of our program.
