Celebrating Recovery Month
September is Recovery Month, a month that celebrates advancements made by those in substance use recovery. Several Austin community resources help make that recovery, in all its forms, possible.
With there being a significant correlation between food insecurity and substance use disorder, Keep Austin Fed (KAF) works with a number of nonprofit organizations actively supporting individuals who have experienced substance dependency.
Outcry at the Barrio is a rehabilitation ministry that receives multiple grocery and prepared food donations through KAF each week. These food donations not only provide something to eat for their community, but they oftentimes are redistributed to disadvantaged neighborhoods and unhoused individuals – something that hits home for some members at Outcry.
“I get to go out to the streets and support the people who are out there because I was once out there in that situation too,” Timothy Z., a member at Outcry said. “[KAF] blesses us and we bless the families. Whatever’s left, we make good, nice plates for the streets. We feed them for their physical needs and bless them with the love of God.”
Austin Restoration Ministries, located in north Austin, is another rehabilitation ministry that redistributes prepared food and groceries to different communities in Austin. Pastor Ira Carey says that the partnership that they have built with KAF has also led to a wider network of food accessibility.
“We have an outreach where we go out into the community and we either cook food or drop off ready-made meals. We pass those out on a daily or every-other-day basis. Everything we get from Keep Austin Fed helps out in a tremendous way.”
Another organization that KAF delivers meals to is Sobering Center. The Sobering Center is a safe place for publicly intoxicated individuals to sober up outside of jails and hospitals, and, where appropriate, provide a bridge to recovery.
Ashlyn Branscum, the Development and Communications Manager at the Sobering Center, says that food accessibility for the individuals they serve is critical.
“The food provided by Keep Austin Fed allows us to have a variety of more nutritional meals than the things that we have here ourselves. We’re not a residential facility, so we have limited resources. So, having the support of Keep Austin Fed helps us make sure that people get what they need while they’re here,” Branscum says.
“Providing food for folks that is nutritious and filling; particularly, when folks are coming down on something and haven't eaten in a couple of days, it means a lot to be able to provide that from the get-go.”
Changing the conversation about substance use disorder and providing individuals with the basic housing, food, and health services they need while they work on recovery and rehabilitation can put them back on a path to self-sufficiency.
We Are Those People's documentary film screening on Monday, September 26th will help show us how. Click here for more information on the “Changing the Narrative of Addiction Recovery” event.
