About Us
Mission
Communities for Recovery develops partnerships and collaborations to enhance recovery from addiction.
Vision
Communities for Recovery envisions a Central Texas with improved rates of recovery from addictive behavior.
What We Do
- Collaborate to bring our accelerated 12 Step process to both inpatient and outpatient clients of mental health and chemical addiction treatment programs, hospitals and social services agencies.
- Provide peer support volunteers to these treatment programs in facilitating our 12 Step model of experiential learning processes to help people overcome chemical addiction and dual diagnosis.
- Offer successfully graduated (discharged) treatment facility clients the opportunity to become our peer support volunteers. After successful completion of training, these volunteers become eligible to begin working with participants of our collaborating treatment centers, hospitals and social service agencies by giving back the gift of sobriety through their voice of compassion and personal recovery experience.
Our Motto
“Give to Keep” – We believe the recovering alcoholic/addict must give the message away to another alcoholic/addict in order to keep his/her sobriety.
Our History
The Beginning
- April 2003 – Dr. William Loving, Medical Director of Seton Shoal Creek Hospital contacts Founder and Program Director, J. Scott Thornton asking for help starting a volunteer organization to connect dual diagnosed patients with 12 Step peer support groups.
- Names and phone numbers of individuals willing to act as temporary sponsors were compiled on business-size cards. These cards were used to match up volunteers to patients. The patients, however, were expected to make the call when needing help.
- “Cross-Talk” aka Q&A Meetings were established on Saturday mornings, allowing patients to meet in small groups with volunteers to hear each others stories.
- June 2003 – First Back to Basics (B2B) meetings produced by our peer support volunteers.
The Middle
- January 2004 – Communities for Recovery (formerly known as Volunteers at the Creek) becomes an incorporated organization.
- June 2004 – Communities for Recovery (formerly known as Volunteers at the Creek) is certified as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
- Work continues in improving Back to Basics. The need for volunteers increases, a voluntary sign-in procedure for patients and other newcomers is established in order to obtain telephone numbers and e-mail addresses of those wishing to give back to help keep their own sobriety. (Emphasis on the voluntary request for participant contact information keeping in mind the fundamental right to confidentiality and anonymity.)
- September 2008 – Communities for Recovery (formerly known as Volunteers at the Creek) expanded the Back to Basics accelerated 12 Step program to two more treatment programs; Texas Star Recovery and the Travis County Drug Diversion Court S.H.O.R.T program.
- February of 2009 – Communities for Recovery implemented a new Dual Disorders Recovery Achievers – Back to Basics at Texas Star Recovery.
- March of 2009 – Communities for Recovery expanded the Flagship Back to Basics accelerated 12 Step program to the Austin State Hospital.
- December of 2009 – Communities for Recovery provided Peer Recovery Coach Academy Training to 6 Peer Support Volunteers and 4 staff members.
- February of 2010 – Communities for Recovery implements first CforR Peer Recovery Coach Institute Training to 14 Peer Support Volunteers.