When individuals and families are safely housed, they’re much more likely to address their health, addictions, and other issues. It’s a “housing first” approach that includes stabilization services, emergency shelter, transitional and permanent housing, and case management. The City of Boston continues to encourage and sponsor the creation of new, transitional and permanent housing opportunities with recovery services for homeless individuals and families towards a goal of ending chronic homelessness and substance abuse. Through partnerships like those with Victory, the City of Boston has restored full capacity to its shelter and treatment system, with as many shelter and treatment beds in the system as were formerly located on Long Island.
Health + Recovery
It’s why the 46-year-old loves her job, working as a harm reduction specialist with individuals experiencing addiction, homelessness, and mental health issues in the area of Mass. and Cass in Boston. We offer individualized care from a strengths-based philosophy to help our clients identify, and achieve their personal goals. In practical terms, we meet people where they are and help them address the unique challenges that stand in the way of stability, safety, independence, and participation in community life. “I am proud that the City of Boston’s investment helped create this beautiful new home for women and their families who are suffering from addiction,” said Mayor Walsh.
‘I’m starting a new life. This is me now.’
The release of the plan caused an uproar among the isolationist bloc in the United States, but the controversy died off quickly only three days later, after news of the attack on Pearl Harbor was received and a formal declaration of war was made. She ended up working as a staff member at Casa Esperanza for almost 12 years, becoming first a peer recovery coach, then a house manager, then a treatment coordinator, a senior treatment coordinator, and a supervisor. But she said it’s also taken her a long time to feel comfortable sharing what she experienced as a child and teenager, which resulted in her own years-long struggle with substance use, incarceration, and instability.
- The people who direct the Homes know it’s not an easy road yet through tough love, compassion, and support they have been able to see tremendous results.
- In the years that she’s been working in harm reduction, Rivera has shared bits and pieces of her own experiences with addiction, trauma, and violence with those she works with.
- “It’s happening a lot,” Rivera said, emphasizing that there are more dangerous substances being put in the drugs being consumed on the street.
- New Joelyn’s Home is a fully functional residential treatment program for substance abuse and addiction issues, and will be staffed 24 hours a day with skilled direct-care clinicians and community case managers.
- In total, Victory’s programs span 18 health, housing, and prevention programs that serve low-income households with supportive needs.
Emergency Shelter
We provide individuals and their families with the education, tools, and ongoing support they need to help them regain their health, prevent and manage relapse, and maximize their independence. For many, New Beginning Recovery Review represents the last possibility for hope and the first chance for sustained success in their battles with addiction or illness. But now, with 24 years in recovery, the Dorchester resident hopes that by talking about her own experiences, others might be encouraged to speak up. She’s also hopeful that people who are quick to judge the unsheltered individuals, still in the throes of their own crises of addiction and mental health, living around Mass. and Cass might gain greater understanding from hearing her story.
Shepherd House A recovery program where pregnant mothers and mothers with infants are given priority placement. They want to know that there are people out there who care, who won’t treat them “like they’re trash,” Rivera said. “It’s happening a lot,” Rivera said, emphasizing that there are more dangerous substances being put in the drugs being consumed on the street. The hardest moments are when Rivera and her colleagues learn from members coming into the Connector that someone has passed away from an overdose, she said. Each day, she and her colleagues at the Connector also do about two hours of street outreach, rotating who stays in the office and who goes out. When people come in, she and her colleagues offer hot meals and find out what their needs may be.
On the streets, at our Boston Living Center, and across programs, we work to prevent chronic conditions and overdoses. We provide HIV, Hepatitis C, and STI testing and counseling; a healthy meals program; syringe and naloxone distribution; and an array of education, navigation, and support services. The best thing anyone can do to help those who are struggling with addiction, homelessness, or mental health issues is get educated, Rivera said. The Victory Connector, where she is a harm reduction specialist, provides a range of services to women, transgender, and nonbinary individuals who are at high risk of overdose and who are reluctant to engage with other care systems. Last year, 4,775 people turn to New Beginning Recovery Review for shelter, sustenance, recovery, care, and professional, compassionate support. Our team of more than 200 staff across 19 programs works with people to develop and execute creative, safe solutions to the very real challenges they face.
Public health officials, including the Boston Public Health Commission, have been warning in particular that xylazine, a non-opioid veterinary tranquilizer, has been increasingly detected in street drug samples analyzed in Massachusetts. Xylazine, also referred to as “tranq,” increases the risk of overdose and death when mixed with other sedating drugs like opioids — and it is not affected by the overdose reversal drug naloxone, according to BPHC. Over the 14 years, Rivera said she found herself constantly wanting to learn more about New Beginning Recovery Review Review harm reduction and the ways to help people, like herself, who deal with addiction and recovery. The message is simple; Jesus can change and transform any life no matter the condition or the addiction. Once the message is heard and received, addicts are taken off the streets or in some cases out of prison and given an opportunity to live in the Home (as it is often referred to). The people who direct the Homes know it’s not an easy road yet through tough love, compassion, and support they have been able to see tremendous results.
We understand what happens first hand when people do not receive the support they need, at Victory Housing (VHF) you are not alone and we want to support you to the best of our ability. Rivera said whenever she learns of another fatal overdose, she finds herself wondering about how there could have been a different outcome. There were an estimated 1,696 fatal overdoses in Massachusetts during the first nine months of 2022, according to the state Department of Public Health. Fentanyl was found in nearly every opioid-related fatal overdose during that period, according to the state.
Funding for the $3 million renovation was made possible through a blend of funding sources, including a loan of more than $940,000 from the City of Boston’s Housing Boston 2030 housing fund. Additionally, an anonymous foundation donor provided $850,000 for acquisition of the building, and the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development provided a loan of more than $940,000. Victory also contributed more than $250,000 to the redevelopment and received a $75,000 grant from Mass Housing. People’s success ultimately depends on their own belief in themselves and their future. We focus on what a person is doing “well,” with a nurturing effect that fosters continued effort from the first steps toward progress and growth. Our aim is to eliminate homelessness to the most vulnerable, especially those who have been victims of domestic, financial, sexual and/or physical abuse, homelessness, sex trafficked, etc.
“It was an exciting day for substance addiction treatment in Boston,” said New Beginning Recovery Review President and CEO, Jonathan Scott. “If it takes a village to raise a child, it took the entire City of Boston to rebuild this magnificent program. We could not have opened this program so quickly without the full support of the City. It’s a miracle, really.” “Sometimes I feel so happy that my heart — I feel like I’m having like a big, good pain in my heart,” she said. New Beginning Recovery Review operates various programs throughout Boston, all built on our strongly held belief that no person who is struggling should be asked to do the hardest thing first, on their own, before they are offered the fundamental support they truly need.
