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Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all. The staff and I at the Family Recovery Center wish you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year.
Today, this being the week of Christmas, I am sure that all of us have pushed ourselves in getting those last minute gifts purchased and wrapped, and planning or putting together those special meals we all enjoyed during the holidays in years past.
Last year I do recall that my husband and I had a much smaller gathering with family and friends as the pandemic was in full swing. We here at the Center fully understand what is happening out there in the world and in our own homes. We may be struggling to make ends meet, to try and not listen to the daily news, or think about how we are going to get through another holiday with the constant fear of the unknown.
Are we making up for lost time with family and friends? I, like you, ask this daily as we are walking through our daily lives with a lot less vim and verve. Using this time to reflect on the past twelve months, we look back and wonder first of all, where did the time go? Are we ever going to experience some level of normalcy in our lives?
It appears that instead of asking what we did to contribute to betterment of our family and/or the community, we are asking, "How can I make those around me come to grip with losses we may have experienced in the past year, experience better health both in physical and mental areas."
Our reading public continues to be supportive of our efforts as many of you have called throughout the year with either questions about the information we have written about or where services might be obtained. Several others have contacted us asking for other topics to be explored. We fully appreciate your support of our efforts to educate and promote wellness in the community.
This past year we have been bombarded with news of overdoses and deaths due to drug use, let alone due to COVID. We work at trying to remain positive, and to continue to educate the public on what can be done, where to turn, and support families who may be struggling through these times.
Staff remains positive as they work with the clients and families who continue to seek the answer or answers to what is meaningful in their lives, families and communities. We continue our work in schools and hopefully are reaching each and every student who may need additional help or answers that often lies outside their regular text books.
I am sure that many of you have seen our facility on Benton Road – the Oxford House. Note that at least 250 individuals participate there on a weekly basis as they work to maintain their recovery and be supportive of their family's concerns and care. The various support groups that are held there seven days a week, rain or shine and regardless of the holiday. Please keep in your thoughts and prayers the many men and women who participate in the various support groups.
Thank you to the many churches and organizations who have donated food, clothing and gifts for the residents of our recovery houses. We couldn't do this alone. The children in our Fleming House will have a fine Christmas due to your generosity. Recovery is a community effort. This is the reason that Family Recovery Center is entering its 49th year of providing services both clinical and educational.
The Fleming House graduated six women this past 12 months, and these women are living in stable housing with their children and are gainfully employed. Other clients have moved forward from both our Brenda House for women, and men from the Renaissance House in Salem. We realize that all who enter our portals are given a chance at recovery, but some may need an additional level of treatment or community support. My hope is that you as an individual can reach out to those who are struggling and point them in the right direction.
We have been able to add staff this past year, and know that their skills and efforts are also making a difference. Further, we have received support from the state and federal government to help them advance their education.
Over the many years I have spent here at the agency, these acts of kindness and generosity still thrill me and continually make me count our blessings.
I know that many of you continually read and see news reports of the growing opiate epidemic here as well as throughout the nation. We have addressed this in a number of previous articles and will continue to do so in the coming months. Further, we continue to see substance abuse crossing all aspects of society in our area. Addiction to alcohol or drugs does not show favoritism or discrimination.
Yet, let me tell you that recovery is happening here in Columbiana County, as evidenced by the numbers of individuals who continually work on repairing their lives and are attending AA and NA meetings throughout the area. And, as stated above, Oxford House opens its doors to men and women who need to find recovery as well as those who are willing to share their recovery with others.
Recovery is not easy, but let me encourage you that there is help out there. Taking that first step is often the hardest. The disease of addiction is both cunning and baffling to those of us who have not experienced it firsthand.
Recovery is what Family Recovery Center is all about. We work with our clients, propose or suggest to them the tools that are certain to help them achieve what so many of us take for granted. Please bear with us as we walk through these difficult times with our clients. Try not to be judgmental because of their choices.
You, as our readers, can serve as role models for our clients. They need your helping hand, your words of encouragement, your support in the workplace and community. As I have read somewhere: "it is far better to forgive and forget than to resent and remember".
Recovery from alcohol or drug abuse is not for the fainthearted. It takes the support of family and community to make it work, along with the individual's dogged pursuit of staying clean and sober.
Your support and encouragement is what keeps the staff coming to work each day, and to meet the challenges presented to us on a daily basis. We know you are our cheerleaders. This team promises you our best to keep you informed and work with the individuals in our community who seek recovery.
As you hang your stockings by the chimney with care; bake those wonderful Christmas cookies, bringing back memories of youth; and exchange presents with your loved ones, please remember that you are loved for all the kindnesses you have shown us during this past year. We at Family Recovery Center say "thank you" and wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.