A Colorado Springs nonprofit is planning to buy a church in coming months and open a hub to serve those recovering from drug and alcohol addiction to help meet the need for care that soared during the pandemic.
The Springs Recovery Connection fielded 8,665 calls for help in 2020 and 715 referrals from the Memorial Hospital Central emergency room, The Gazette previously reported. To better serve those in recovery, the nonprofit plans to spend $3 million on the First Evangelical Free Church near 30th Street and west Fontanero Street to house numerous services for those in recovery.
The campus could house physical and mental health care, peer coaching, support groups, message therapy and yoga, among other services, said Trudy Strewler Hodges, CEO of Springs Recovery Connection. The nonprofit is working with 30 groups on the center that would help those in recovery long-term.
Trudy Strewler Hodges, CEO of Springs Recovery Connection.
“People need ongoing coaching and supports lifelong. It’s not something you just get over,” she told the Colorado Springs City Council on Monday during a presentation of the project.
Many people use substances to self-medicate their mental health problems. Once they stop using substances, they can focus on their underlying conditions, she added.
The hub would be based on a model that’s been successful elsewhere but hasn’t been started in Colorado, and could help address mental illness and addictions that lead to many other problems such as homelessness, she said.
The nonprofit asked the council to consider donating $500,000 to the church from its federal coronavirus recovery grant funds. The nonprofit is also applying for $500,000 from El Paso County and expects to raise the rest from individuals and foundations, she said.
Some council members seemed fully on board with the funding request, but the group did not make a decision during the meeting.
Councilwoman Yolanda Avila was among those who supported giving a grant to the new center because addiction contributes to so many other problems in the community, she said.
“We can no longer be satisfied with putting people in jail or shelters,” she said.
Julia Brownfield, program director for the nonprofit, said the group was aiming to move into the church by Jan. 1, in part because the group is facing a major crunch for space at its current location on the third floor of The Sanctuary Church in Old Colorado City.
The need for more care is supported by data from the El Paso County Coroner’s Office that showed accidental drug overdose deaths rose from 130 in 2019 to 186 in 2020. Fentanyl deaths more than doubled, from 21 in 2019 to 47 last year.
The nonprofit added numerous staff members to deal with demand during the pandemic and now houses 11 employees in one room and must rotate the days employees work in person because space is so limited, Brownfield said.
The recovery connection is working with about 2,000 people every year, and Brownfield expects that to rise by about 1,000 every year after the hub opens, she said.
The community is still lacking an inpatient facility in the city for rehabilitative treatment extending 30 to 90 days. But the new hub would help with life transitions after someone gets out of inpatient treatment to find housing, work and peer support, Brownfield said.
Someone getting out of treatment has numerous appointments for care, and this would bring them together in one place, she added/.
She expects needs will only continue to grow as the population continues to rise.
The new hub could also qualify for support from settlements reached with opioid producers that will be passed from the state down to the region to help with addiction services, said Councilman Richard Skorman.
“It is kind of hidden problem, but its one of the biggest ones that we have to deal with,” he said.
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