YOUTH MENTORING PROGRAM

1. One of the most difficult things to do when you are a recovering addict is to “move on” with your life and adjust back to what society deems as normal. What most people don’t realize is that as a recovering addict, the struggle to use again is constant, especially at the beginning. Some may feel shunned or discriminated against because of their troubled past. Recovering addicts may need help finding employment, and Design for Recovery can help them do just that. They will help them with preparing their resume, with job search assistance, and most importantly – networking. Design for Recovery feels very strongly about helping recovering addicts obtain employment and their statistics prove it. More than half of their members have jobs and work either full time or part time in a variety of different jobs. This type of assistance is so important and plays a huge part in the process to recovery. For many recovering addicts, their lives are completely derailed and not many people in the world seem to want to give a helping hand. They are stigmatized, when in fact they should be celebrated for beating the beast of addiction. Design for Recovery also recognizes that recovering addicts typically have financial problems and habits that need to be ironed out during the recovery process. Obtaining employment will only solve part of a person’s financial woes – knowing what to do with the money you earn is the other part. Design for Recovery is a big proponent of teaching the basic concept of budgeting and how it is the foundation needed to lead a successful recovery. They claim that a lot of addicts relapse due to financial strain. If a recovering addict does not know the basic fundamentals of budgeting, then continuing on a straight path may prove to be difficult. Design for Recovery also understands the importance of family during the recovery process. Addicts need all of the support they can get, and having family available, both physically and emotionally, can play a huge role in this process. Design for Recovery has a Family Services program that can help families out with this. They have weekly phone calls to family members to give them progress reports on their loved ones, give immediate notification in case of emergency or more dire concerns, they have an open-door policy for members that would like to visit their loved ones at the house, conduct conference calls between family members, staff and loved one, and can offer financial assistance. Please let Design for Recovery help your loved one get through the most treacherous time of their life. They have proven time and time again that they have the experience and expertise to not only help them recover from their addiction, but to help pull themselves up with their head held high to get them integrated back into society. This process is something they take extremely seriously and put every effort into making each and every single one sober living houses of their members grateful that they walked in the door.