The generosity of a landlord means Life Recovery Home can more than double the number of men it helps transition from addiction recovery back to normal life
A businessman bought a property on Goshen Road in northwest Fort Wayne to use outbuildings on the property for his company, said Brandon Bower, a licensed clinical addictions counselor and executive director of The Lighthouse, A Biblical Life Recovery Center, which operates the faith-based Life Recovery Home program.
The property also contained a two-story house, which wasn’t being used, so the businessman offered to rent it to The Lighthouse for less than half of what it would cost to rent similar accommodations elsewhere, Bower said.
After painting and minor remodeling, the home is set to open with a ribbon cutting at 2 p.m. Sunday.
The home, which has four bedrooms upstairs with a set of bunk beds in each, can accommodate eight men, Bower said. The first Life Recovery Home, which The Lighthouse owns at 3221 McCormick Ave., has space for six men.
“We’ve had to turn away people, which is why we wanted to open this one,” Bower said.
A large number of people are in need of addictions recovery help, in part due to the opioid crisis, he said.
The rental house also has a large room for group meetings, a small room for counseling sessions, a room for watching television and a large kitchen.
“It fit everything we were looking for,” he said.
The only drawback is the home isn’t on a Citilink bus route, so men who stay there will need to have their own transportation to get to and from their jobs, Bower said.
Men in the program are expected to get a job and work 40 hours a week to add structure to their lives. They also have chores to do at the house.
Life Recovery tries to help men make spiritual and lifestyle changes to recover from drug addiction, Bower said.
“We do not treat drugs with drugs,” he said. “We feel tying them into the sober community is more effective than medication.”
Along with providing counseling, spiritual education and structure in clients’ daily lives, the Life Recovery Home program also tries to connect each man with a group of supportive people at a local church, Bower said. The congregation members will help support the man as he transitions out of the program to living on his own.
Four churches are involved now, but Bower said it has been a struggle to get more congregations to participate.
Conversely, Life Recovery Home staff haven’t had any problem finding jobs for men in the program, but most of the jobs have been second-shift or third-shift positions, Bower said. Working those hours makes it more difficult for the men to take part in group sessions and activities at their Life Recovery Home, he said. First-shift jobs working a set schedule would be ideal.
Since 2014, The Lighthouse has worked with 16 men in its first Life Recovery Home, served nearly 210 people in group sessions and provided educational training to about 135 people, Bower said.
Men currently stay an average of about 4 1/2 months in the Life Recovery Home, Bower said. He’d like them to stay six months to a year to be better prepared to live on their own, but they aren’t obligated to stay. Most come to the program after being in other treatment, however, so they are in recovery longer than their time in the Life Recovery Home.
“My goal has always been to be a bridge from treatment back into the real world,” he said.
RIBBON CUTTING
The Life Recovery Home program will hold a ribbon cutting for its second home for men recovering from addiction. The event will take place at 2 p.m. Sunday. Call 1-260-255-6413 for directions.
For more information about the Life Recovery Home program, go to www.biblicalliferecoverycenter.com.
HOW TO HELP
Life Recovery Home welcomes donations, such as:
• Toilet paper
• Paper towels
• Bar soap
• Postage stamps
• Envelopes
• Copy paper
• Walmart gift cards
For information about donating, call 1-260-255-6413.