Local leaders, service providers, and recovery advocates gathered Wednesday for a roundtable discussion identifying service gaps and strategies to better support individuals and families in recovery.
Among the most pressing concerns raised was a lack of stable, affordable housing, particularly for individuals in recovery who may also have criminal records. While some counties have stepped up by building more transitional housing, UCHRA Community Services Director LaNelle Godsey said it is still a barrier.
“Housing is a problem in general,” Godsey said. “So now think about someone who does have a substance use disorder and maybe has something on their background, how impossible it’s going to be for them to find housing, because it is limited.”
Workplace barriers also emerged as a major challenge. Volunteer Behavioral Health Director Anne Stamps said individuals in recovery often struggle to balance full-time jobs with the time-intensive demands of treatment, counseling, and recovery meetings.
“That is a barrier that I have recognized with some of our folks,” Stamps said. “Trying to get the treatment and still being able to do everything else that they need to do. Taking care of their family, working, making appointments, etc.”
During the discussion, it was mentioned that suggested employers could play a larger role by allowing flexible schedules or even hosting recovery meetings on-site to better support employees.
UC Recovery Certified Peer Recovery Specialist Ryan Henry said support for families of those who have someone in recovery is another gap in the region. While resources exist for individuals in recovery, Henry said parents, grandparents, and spouses often lack guidance on how to cope or help effectively.
“That may be a missing piece is family support,” Henry said. “How do we support the family? Getting calls all the time, mom, grandma looking for their son or daughter to get help, but it’s like leading a horse to water and hoping to drink. Having the resources ready, and somebody does decide that. But in the meantime, how can we support mom, dad, and the grandparents?”
UCHRA Executive Director Mark Farley said stigma surrounding addiction continues to be one of the most persistent barriers. Farley said fear of judgment prevents many from seeking help early, often delaying treatment until involvement with the criminal justice system.
“As a community, we have got to change our mindset on what it means to help somebody in recovery,” Farley said. ” Our hope is we catch our kids, our neighbors, our family members before they get into the court system, before they start down that path that they may be incarcerated. That’s where we’ve got to be.”
Participants also voiced other gaps as promoting other types of recovery services that are not faith-based. Power Putnam Executive Director Bill Gibson mentioned that mental health has become a big issue amongst the youth.
“Something like…10 percent have, in the past year, planned how they would commit suicide,” Gibson said. “20-point-something percent have said…they have felt worthless most of the time or all of the time.”
Participants said workforce development is another major focus. Recovery-Friendly Tennessee Director Mikel Miller said a new initiative aims to certify “recovery-friendly” employers, providing training on mental health and substance use while encouraging businesses to adopt supportive policies.
“The hardest thing for an individual who’s new in recovery is to go to that employer or go out for a job and get to that door and go through it,” Miller said. “I mean, it takes so much energy just to walk in and then get told by an HR director that, unfortunately, your past or your background or all these disqualifiers hit you.”
Henry said having hope is a critical piece to recovery. Henry said other organizations should be thinking about how they can install hope not just in the person recovering but also their friends and family. Farley said he hopes to hear some solutions that either UCHRA or another organization can use to help address the gaps in the region.
Farley said the message he wants each organization to spread is that it is okay for those who are struggling to ask for help.
“If somebody says they’re struggling, they have got a child or a brother or a sister, husband or wife, that is struggling, don’t think you’re hopeless,” Farley said. “Help them understand there’s no wrong door here in the Upper Cumberland. You are going to get to every resource of life because we work very closely with one another and we are proud of that.”