Pir2peer Recovery Center

Discussion in 'Member Websites' started by Ken Anderson, Nov 28, 2019.

  1. Michelle Anderson

    Michelle Anderson Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Apr 6, 2016
    Messages:
    239
    Likes Received:
    424
    If you get to a place where you would like to have virtual meetings, we would be happy to let you use our platform to do that.

    The website has been updated quite a bit since you first went there. We were in a whirlwind in the beginning, with weekly 5-hour meetings with my partners, and other meetings with the police, EMS, and hospitals in the region, etc.

    I've never heard of a 90-day program, and while it sure wouldn't have worked for me, I can see that it would be far, far better than a 28-day program. Is it 12-Step? Do they go past Step 3?

    Here's a video and article from a few months back where we talk about what we do:

    https://www.newscentermaine.com/art...ction/97-29170c87-1440-49c6-83c1-aeff32ff0afc
     
    #16
    Bobby Cole likes this.
  2. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
    Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2015
    Messages:
    13,053
    Likes Received:
    24,625
    The 90 day program is extremely secular and a little tricky. One side of the building is for transients and the other is for the program people.
    People can stay in the transient section for 30 days and If they get a job they can either stay for the remainder of that 30 days or move to the program section where they have 90 days of free rent, free food and relatively stress free living.
    The thing is, they have to abide by a fairly strict schedule that is preset between the counselor and the client which includes N/A and A/A if that is where the problems stem from.
    They do get one night out a week but have to return by a set hour and alcohol and drug free. Their paychecks are banked via a dual signature bank account and when the client finds a place to live that he or she can afford, the counselor then assists the client (to make sure where the money goes) in renting the abode and the client moves out. Further assistance with bedding, pots, pans, some furniture and bed are given via the state thrift stores.
    For a while, the client can keep the dual signature account or opt for his or her own account depending on how much they trust themselves. Of course, a person has to be honest with themselves which as we know, isn’t an easy thing to do.

    Oh yeah, I almost forgot. On the transient side, if a person writes a 10 page autobiography and presents it to a counselor, he or she goes to the top of the list for the program and also gets any additional time they need on that side whilst waiting.
    Funny thing but when I helped develop the Overcomer’s program in Greenville, S.C. I had instituted almost the same idea in the application process just to get a heads up about what might be actually feeding the cycle of homelessness a client faced. Sadly, even though it was a part of the entrance application I developed, , it has since been taken out.

    Sometime today I will indeed go to the new website! It sounds like you guys have a pretty good grip on things and I am more than fascinated with how it is developing.
    Check you later on. Thanks Michelle......
     
    #17
    Michelle Anderson likes this.
  3. Michelle Anderson

    Michelle Anderson Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Apr 6, 2016
    Messages:
    239
    Likes Received:
    424
    For the record, I do have to point out that while Journey Magazine quoted me as saying, "We believed in God . . .We didn’t have to open any doors. They just opened.”

    I absolutely did NOT say "believed" (past tense). I said, "We believe [present tense] in God..."
     
    #18
  4. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
    Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2015
    Messages:
    13,053
    Likes Received:
    24,625
    I took it as “We believed and God opened the doors”. Past tense is indicative of what God did the same as believed. If God did such a wonderful work and is still doing it, then who would dare think that you no longer believe?
    Be at ease, God knows your heart.
     
    #19
    Michelle Anderson likes this.
  5. Michelle Anderson

    Michelle Anderson Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Apr 6, 2016
    Messages:
    239
    Likes Received:
    424
    I'm not sure about how the state would look upon us allowing only 12-step meetings to use our space. The truth is that we realize that there are many paths to recovery.

    My own path began with a therapeutic community which shaved the heads of those who entered recovery there, spent 4 nights a week in "games" which entailed a dozen or so groups of 10 addicts yelling at the top of their lungs for a few hours, and wearing signs like "I'm a big baby" as a consequence of acting like a child.That was 32 years ago, and I'm pretty sure they don't do all that any more.

    I currently attend Life Recovery meetings, a Christian faith-based program which has 12 steps

    AA says that the average sobriety time of members that were surveyed was 8 years.I firmly believe that this is the result of judges and parole officers sending people to 12-step meetings despite incompatibility the recoveree.

    I'll stop myself before I drone on and on. Suffice it to say that some of the methods in this state are wacky.
     
    #20
    Yvonne Smith and Bobby Cole like this.
  6. Michelle Anderson

    Michelle Anderson Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Apr 6, 2016
    Messages:
    239
    Likes Received:
    424
    He has blessed the recovery center. That's not to say we don't need prayer. We certainly do. I thank you and ask that you keep us in prayer, if you will.

    This was NOT the paths any of us were on. In fact, the three of us knew each other only casually until we realized that we were called to do this. He just keeps opening doors.

    There were three of us originally, as has been mentioned in this thread. There are only two of us now. We don't get salaries -- though we are certainly willing to entertain the concept as soon as we are financially able -- so we all had part time jobs. The third partner, Velma, has long worked part-time in the nursing home here, and in March, when COVID panic took over our state, she had to choose between Pir2Peer and the nursing home, and she chose them, so it's me and Ginger running the place. We have now gotten numerous volunteers, including Ken, who jump in and help.
     
    #21
    Babs Hunt likes this.
  7. Michelle Anderson

    Michelle Anderson Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Apr 6, 2016
    Messages:
    239
    Likes Received:
    424
    Is that Miracle Hill?
     
    #22
    Bobby Cole likes this.
  8. Michelle Anderson

    Michelle Anderson Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Apr 6, 2016
    Messages:
    239
    Likes Received:
    424
    I hadn't thought of it that way. Thank you.
     
    #23
  9. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
    Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2015
    Messages:
    13,053
    Likes Received:
    24,625
    Originally, Miracle Hill was where the children’s sat but when it burned the Greenville Rescue Mission built the building which houses the Overcomer’s Program.

    It’s a far cry from the original concept and to tell the truth, Winn (nor I) liked the way it morphed so when he left the Rescue Mission as their Executive Director he went full speed ahead with the Wisdom in Living Life Ministry which like I wrote in the PM, is pretty much on the same line as yours, or at least it seems that way.

    Just a side bar: When the wet concrete slab was being finished for the Children’s home, a flash thunderstorm broke out and even though everything in the 15 or so minute deluge was soaked, not one drop of water hit the wet concrete and they were able to finish smoothing the concrete without any damage whatsoever hence the name, Miracle Hill.
     
    #24
    Yvonne Smith likes this.
  10. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
    Staff Member Senior Staff Greeter Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2015
    Messages:
    24,326
    Likes Received:
    42,628
    pir2peer.jpg
    They have their sign up, at last.
     
    #25
    Bobby Cole and Yvonne Smith like this.
  11. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
    Staff Member Senior Staff Greeter Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    May 29, 2020
    Messages:
    22,677
    Likes Received:
    32,163
    This is a good thing.

    When I quit drinking, etc., I was fortunate to have a place not far from home called The Unity Club. It was a small building that had a large meeting room and maybe 6 conference rooms. There were a variety of 12 Step meetings going on from 6AM until midnight. I practically lived there for the first year I got sober (1990.) That's when John Bradshaw's stuff was big. Joseph Campbell's ideas made their way into some of the men's meetings.

    I like your format of including a community center atmosphere. People in recovery can use a safe place to socialize outside of the formal structure of meetings. The Unity Club was solely for meetings (there really was no space for anything else), but many of us would go to local eateries to socialize. A no-cost place for folks to just hang out would have been a nice thing to have.

    It may be a crazy time to start such a place, but I can see an opportunity when people's "normal" routines have already been dashed to the ground.
     
    #26
    Bobby Cole likes this.
  12. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
    Staff Member Senior Staff Greeter Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2015
    Messages:
    24,326
    Likes Received:
    42,628
    @John Brunner, that's very much like what they do, plus, as you noted, people can just come in and hang out. There's coffee, and sometimes snacks, and plenty of space, even for social distancing, since it used to be an auto dealership. Some of the other recovery places have had to close for in-person stuff because they didn't have space. With the COVID restrictions, some of the meetings have become a hybrid of actual people in a room and others online in a virtual place. They actually opened just before the COVID scare hit, and that shut them down for a month or so until they achieved essential business status.
     
    #27
    Bobby Cole likes this.
  13. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
    Staff Member Senior Staff Greeter Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    May 29, 2020
    Messages:
    22,677
    Likes Received:
    32,163
    I've been to a few 12 Step meetings since I moved here. I've been to meetings in 3 surrounding counties (since there are so few meetings in these rural areas), and cannot think of a single venue that would have the space to accommodate folks...although it's been a while since I've been to one.

    I worried about this community when this stuff first hit, especially the newly arrived. Recovery can be fragile enough. Attending virtually would sure be "different."
     
    #28
    Ken Anderson and Bobby Cole like this.
  14. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
    Staff Member Senior Staff Greeter Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    May 29, 2020
    Messages:
    22,677
    Likes Received:
    32,163
    Many of us in The Program have observed that it is a broadly-applicable template for living a successful, accountable life. The meetings I have disliked the most are the ones that insist on focusing on the substance and not on the human (fortunately, those have been in the minority.) There has yet to be any 12 Step meeting type I have not derived benefit from, and I've attended up to 10 or 12 of them on some days. The problem substance or the problem behaviour (like gambling or hyper-sexuality) are merely how each individual medicates some pretty universal underlying issues. I would recommend 12 Step meetings for anyone who is struggling to impose a direction or structure to their lives.
     
    #29
    Bobby Cole likes this.
  15. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
    Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2015
    Messages:
    13,053
    Likes Received:
    24,625
    As a general run, I do agree with you about 12 step programs.
    When I was working as a teacher and counselor in an 8 week program at the Hebron Colony in Boone N.C., the focus was on (1) a person’s relationship with God (2) accountability and responsibility within that relationship.
    Now, that’s not saying that a 12 step program is looked down on for certainly after leaving the program many of the men went back to their respective homes and went to whatever meetings they chose to go to for a follow up. Some needed that extra help and some didn’t.

    The one thing that makes that program really special is that each person who graduates gets a book with every phone number of every graduate that ever went through the program. If a person needs help then all that person has to do is call or better yet, skype (or face time as it is now) and the call will be received. Hebron’s success rating is around 74% so obviously the combination of the program at Hebron with whatever follow up the person does afterward makes that success so high.

    Then, there’s a theological premise which does go against the grain of most 12 step programs which is: Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature, old things have passed away, behold, all things are made new. II Corinthians 5.17
    Whereas many believe that once an addict, always an addict, the premise held in the verse I gave relieves the weight of that stigma.
    Some feel that addiction is a lifelong disease, others believe it’s a condition that can be healed. Either way, whatever works for the individual.

    One thing we both know for sure John is that without change, there is no change.
     
    #30
    John Brunner and Yvonne Smith like this.

Share This Page