Compassion Central establishing recovery housing in Fairmont
Apr. 27—FAIRMONT — Addiction recovery in Marion County will cast a wider net with the addition of Compassion Central, a nonprofit dedicated to helping individuals heal from substance abuse.
The new organization is integrating itself into the pre-existing network of recovery services to help connect individuals to the help they need to get their lives back.
"When we go to help a family that's coming out of addiction, like a guy that's coming out of our recovery housing, when we go to set him up to rejoin the real world we're not going to have a place of our own where we've collected furniture and housewares," Cathy Boyle, executive director, said. "Blessings in the basement does that. So we're going to collaborate with them.
"Part of it is to get Marion County's recovery services organized, have us all moving in the right direction and really provide a well rounded, fully functional recovery support network for those in Marion County."
To underscore their collaborative approach to healing addiction, the organization introduced itself to the community through a block party on April 20. Ten different aid providers set up tables at the event to talk about the services they provide to those working through recovery. Among those present was the Marion County Quick Response Team, Motivating Recovery from Central United Methodist Church and the Marion County Family Resource Network.
Boyle said communication between all groups working to support addiction recovery is important.
"We do not want to reinvent the wheel and we do not want to duplicate services," Boyle said. "For example, if someone has a 12-step recovery program on Tuesday night, which Celebrate Recovery does, we're not going to put our 12 Step on Tuesday night. We're going to do it on Friday night because there is none in Marion County on Friday."
A true recovery organization needs to support the community all the way around, not just when it's convenient, she said.
Connecting Link Outreach Coordinator Lois Martin said building a partnership and behaving neighborly with the new nonprofit is important. That means welcoming them, as well as filling them in on other community agencies that can assist with Compassion Central's mission.
"I learned that there is a 4H camp being renovated and they have bed frames and mattresses to donate to those in need," Martin said. "I reached out to George, Cathy's husband, this morning on that. He hadn't caught wind of that and I know he's going to be doing an in-house recovery center, so I figured I would let him know."
Compassion Central is restoring a parsonage attached to the Central Church of the Nazarene on 2nd Street and Walnut Avenue. The parsonage will serve as the first recovery home in Fairmont. It will provide individuals recovering from substance abuse a long term place to stay after exiting a treatment center. It provides the stability individuals need to truly get themselves out of addiction and into society again.
Without stability, it can be easy to slip back into addiction due to the stress of continually searching for a place to live and meeting basic necessities.
"One of the things we lack in Fairmont is housing for people when they get out of treatment," Motivating Recovery Coordinator Brenda Cook said. "They leave treatment and go right back to where, they have no choice but to go back to the same neighborhoods, same situations."
Cook said living with people who understand substance abuse and are working to keep a recovering individual safe can make all the difference in the world. Which is why she's excited to see Compassion Central open such housing in Fairmont. Tackling addiction in a community is important because it doesn't just affect individuals addicted to substance abuse, Cook said. It affects their family, their job, community or church.
She also appreciates the nonprofit's collaborative approach, because networking in this field can be difficult.
"That's why this event was so awesome; Cathy and George had the right idea," Cook said. "They're trying to get to know people in the neighborhood, people in Fairmont, and making as many connections as they can. That's where you just have to pound on doors, and walk down streets and talk to people."
If each organization works in what they're best at and then talks to each other, Cook said, it can help create a fuller picture of what the problem is and solve it.
Work continues on the parsonage. Boyle hopes within the next three to six months the first recovery housing will be finished and the organization itself will be better known to the community. They also hope to form a Marion County Recovery Alliance. By August or September, she hopes they can start receiving applications.
So far, the community has been very welcoming toward them and their mission. Compassionate Central plans to keep it that way by being transparent with the community around it.
"Would you rather have someone who's in recovery as your neighbor who's being monitored and drug tested," Boyle said. "Or would you rather have someone who you don't know what's happening behind their four walls who's possibly using and not working toward recovery?"
She said people who decide recovery is not for them will have to depart the recovery house.
Compassionate Central's new 12-step program on Friday nights takes place at 6:30 p.m. at the Church of the Nazarene. Anyone facing drug or alcohol addiction is welcome, she said.
"Kathy and George are on fire, to bring those choices and help anyone and everyone that wants to do recovery," Cook said. "They want compassion. It's the greatest thing I've seen since I've been back. It's a group that really truly wants to work."
Reach Esteban at efernandez@timeswv.com
