The Starke Taskforce for Overdose Prevention Consortium (STOP) will award over $130,000 to Hope Restored to renovate and open its recovery home in North Judson. The project was first conceived of 3 years ago when community members began to converse about the need for a recovery home in Starke County.
“It [Hope Restored] was born out of us knowing and understanding the need ourselves. We’ve seen the desperation of not having a resource like this in the community. It will be a challenge but it is so needed here in Starke County,” said Megan Johnston, a board member for Hope Restored.
These dollars were made possible by grants awarded by the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) who approved the renovation funds upon special request. Hope Restored will serve as a transitional living environment for 8-10 men in recovery from a substance use disorder and will be the first recovery home in Starke County.
“When STOP has conversations with community residents and stakeholders, the number one request we hear is to have safe places for people in recovery to live and receive structure while they rebuild their lives. We’re very thankful to HRSA for approving this,” said Megan Fisher, Director of Recovery Engagement at Porter-Starke Services and member of the STOP Consortium.
Hope Restored plans to offer structured scheduling, therapeutic programming, required self-help meetings, drug testing, and more to aid its residents on their path to recovery. The allocation of these funds will allow Hope Restored to drastically accelerate their construction timeline and begin offering services for those suffering from substance misuse.
“We are really proud of the work the STOP Consortium is doing to help Starke County as it addresses substance misuse issues and very pleased to say that Hope Restored will soon be able to open its doors to those in need of their services,” said Fisher.
Hope Restored hopes to finish construction and begin serving the community at the beginning of 2022.
“It’s been a work in progress and a huge learning curve trying to figure out how to do this, but everything has fallen into place the way it is supposed to. This grant was a huge breakthrough for us,” said Johnston.
The Starke Taskforce for Overdose Prevention (STOP) consists of representatives from various sectors of the Starke County community, including healthcare, law enforcement, government, faith-based, and education. STOP aims to address any gaps in the prevention, treatment, and recovery of opioid use disorder and is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $1 million with 0% financed with non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government.
