Miami Recovery Project: A Non-Profit Organization

Miami Recovery Project: A Non-Profit Organization
The program I observed was Miami Recovery Project, a community organization that provides recovery support services to people struggling with alcohol and drug substance abuse in Miami and neighboring regions. I attended one of their sessions in Miami on 2nd July of this year out of a keen interest in learning more about the recovery advocate network. Various studies have associated peer support with positive behavioral health outcomes among people in recovery, and I wanted to witness firsthand how people who are all directly affected by the same issue use their own experiences to help one another. Miami Recovery Project, a non-profit organization focused on providing recovery support to members of the Miami community, was founded in April of 2020 by Thomas Guerra (Miami Recovery Project, 2022). The non-denominational recovery community organization is situated at 9360 Sunset Drive #265, Miami, Florida, and staffed with a team of peer recovery specialists. It is managed by representatives of local communities of recovery who coordinate recovery-aimed community education and outreach programs, peer-founded recovery support services, and recovery-based policy advocacy activities.
There are no criteria for client entrance into the support group: anyone affected by alcohol and substance abuse, experiencing addiction, or even supporting the recovery lifestyle is welcome to join the weekly meetings. The demographics of the group were varied and reflected Miami’s racial make-up. There was also a sizeable number of members, around forty, with equal representation of genders and ages. The organization aims to marshal resources within and outside the recovery community of people in long-term recovery and their friends, families, and allies to promote long-term recovery from alcohol and substance abuse (Miami Recovery Project, 2022). My objective impression of the program in meeting the clients’ needs was wholly positive. The group meeting had several rewarding benefits that fostered a culture of recovery among the attendees. Alcohol and substance abuse is usually accompanied by other problems, including depression, shame, and isolation: these issues often impede long-time recovery (Scannell, 2021). The group meeting was a source of personal acceptance, community gathering, and social accountability: most attendees appeared to appreciate how the group meetings fostered acceptance, camaraderie, honesty, and willingness to change.
Miami Recovery Project was founded to encourage community involvement in addiction treatment through social accountability, help recovering addicts stay on track, and offer openness to share and learn from each other's experiences. The group meetings provided members with a high level of understanding of addiction struggles and triumphs that is rarely provided by other forms of alcohol and substance abuse treatment. Other therapeutic factors I observed in the group meeting are hope, universality, existential, catharsis, and group cohesion. Attendees found hope in their commonalities with other group members who had successfully recovered from addiction. Those still in recovery were inspired by the stories of other members who were in similar situations but...