Published: January 02, 2008 02:33 pm         

Substance abuse recovery

It's all about recovering from drugs and alcohol and the willpower to seek a more productive life.

The Morehead Inspiration Center is a program of Pathways (111 U.S. 60 West, Morehead) that offers long-term residential recovery for adult men seeking recovery from substance abuse.

Admission criteria includes men 18 years old and older, those in need of non-medical alcohol and other drug withdrawal in a safe environment and men in need of acute medical care for any current or long-standing conditions.

The non-profit organization opened Nov. 6 and is an affiliate of the Recovery Kentucky Initiative. A similar center, the Healing Place in Louisville, has housed and provided success to hundreds of men in search of sober living, said Rick Leist, program manager.

“I came here from the Louisville center and know of this program's success. It's just a matter of wanting to get help,” he commented.

The Morehead Inspiration Center can house up to 100 men and offers four levels of recovery, which incorporates a social model of recovery, peer support, accountability, daily living skills, job responsibility and practical living experience.

With 42 clients presently living at the center, each one is expected to follow the six to nine-month program to make a clean and sober transition back into society.

While some clients are court ordered into the program, others enter the center to seek a better way of living, Leist said.

“Some are just tired and eager to change,” Liest commented. “Others might be here while out on parole. But if they don't follow the rules exactly, they know they will be sent back to prison. In fact, our paroled clients are the ones most eager to change.”

As part of the program, all clients are expected daily to take part in what is called “trudging.” Leist said trudging is time away from the center while clients walk to the Morehead United Methodist Church for program classes.

“It's all about making choices whether they are right or wrong,” Liest said. “They leave the center and must choose whether to do the right thing or the wrong while they are away. We have a group of men here who are ready to change their lives. It's a matter of wanting to become a better person. If a person wants to change they won't be threat to the community and will want to do the right thing. If they don't want to change, then they will go back to where they came from.”

Leist said the center is currently housing clients from Rowan, Elliott, Carter, Magoffin and Boyd counties.

As a client nears the end of the program, he enters into the “transition stage.” During that time, the client lives on the center's property but works in the community.

“They get jobs and pay rent back to the center,” Liest said. “After a month they present the therapeutic community (fellow clients in the center) a plan of action. They will acquire a place to live and then go before the therapeutic community who will decide whether they are ready to leave the center and live on their own.”

Leist said he does foresee a center for women as funding becomes available. Federal grants provided money to build the Morehead Inspirational Center.

Eligibility and intake criteria for the Morehead Inspiration Center includes:

o Male, 18 or older

o Men who are homeless or are marginally housed which a history of addiction

o No history of sexual misconduct

o No propensity for violence as demonstrated in past behavior

o No uncontrolled mental illness

o Physically able to participate in the program

o Capable of living in a group living environment

o No court date within 30 days.

For more information call the Morehead Inspiration Center at 783-0404.