Oct 30

Oct 30 Addiction recovery organization seeks to enhance long-term recovery in Rochester

Partnered content • 2016

On November 5, 2016, Recovery Is Happening (RIH) hosted its Annual Red Carpet Recovery Gala at the Rochester International Event Center. Due to the generosity and support of participants and donors, over $35,000 was raised!

Funds raised from the Gala will be used to expand operations and offer additional recovery services to those seeking long-term Recovery throughout southeast Minnesota. RIH is a non-profit organization that serves to mobilize and develop resources that enhance long-term Recovery from substance use issues through education, advocacy, and peer support in southeast Minnesota.

RIH Founder and Executive Director, Tiffany Hunsley, states that community partnership is critical to creating a highly visible, easily accessible Recovery Community Center that promotes community healing, wellness, and same day services for individuals who desire Recovery.

“Addiction touches all of us. It does not discriminate based upon gender, age, race or socioeconomic stats. We have made a lot of progress since we opened our doors in 2011, but we can do so much more with support from the community.”

In 2016, through grant money and community donations, RIH was able to build the necessary infrastructure to add two new Recovery services, Peer Recovery Specialists and Telephonic Recovery Support. In addition, RIH opened a Recovery home for women on November 1, and hopes to open a Recovery home for men by the end of the year.

Addiction treatment and recovery support services have repeatedly been shown to be effective in achieving Recovery. As with any chronic disease, however, studies reveal that continuing recovery support services are often critical in helping individuals achieve and maintain long-term Recovery.

The societal savings are significant. According to the American Public Health Association, there is a 1:7 Return on Investment (ROI) in health care costs and 1:30 ROI for productivity and social costs. In other words, for every $1 spent on mental health and addiction, $7 in health care costs are saved and $30 in productivity and social costs are saved.

Recovery from alcohol and drug problems is “a process of change through which an individual achieves abstinence and improved health, wellness, and quality of life,” according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

About Recovery is Happening

Recovery Is Happening was founded in Rochester, Minnesota in 2011 when Tiffany Hunsley, a college student living in long- term recovery, was doing her Capstone Project for a degree in Social Work. While researching how communities actively support and celebrate individuals in long-term recovery she realized that in Southeastern Minnesota there was a startling lack of support, little collaboration and networking between providers, and virtually no advocacy or education about the realities of living in long-term recovery.

For more information, visit their website or follow them on Facebook.