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. Rivera starts each day with a cup of coffee and greets her staff, ensuring the plan is set for the day. When Rivera was moved to Casa Esperanza’s new housing on Eustis Street, she again felt flooded with feelings of fear and nervousness about the change, she recalled. “We were always left alone, and the violence that was in the house was not normal,” she said of living with her mother.
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Hope House Review provides recovery, health, and housing services through thirty-three buildings in Boston, Cambridge, and now Topsfield, fourteen of which we own. Maintaining these units in the manner that those in our care both need and deserve is a great cost to our organization. This combined with surging healthcare costs for employees results in a very narrow profit margin on an annual basis. Fiscal year’s 2018 margin for a 13 million dollar budget is approximately half a percent. The annual acquisition of significant unrestricted funding through donations, grants, and special events is vital as a response to this reality. For many, Hope House Review represents the last possibility for hope and the first chance for sustained success in their battles with addiction or illness.
Hope House Review, Inc.
- 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.
- They talk to people on the street around Mass. and Cass about the services they have and offer resources.
- 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.
- By the time she was 10 or 11, Rivera and her siblings were placed in foster care because of their mother’s alcohol use.
We follow a low-barrier housing-first clinically driven approach to guide clients towards health and safety. Coping with those deaths, and the prospect that she will likely see more as the state and country continue to grapple with the overdose crisis, Rivera said she relies on belief — and the knowledge that change doesn’t happen overnight. Rivera said whenever she learns of another fatal overdose, she finds herself wondering about how there could have been a different outcome.
House the person
Hope House Review is a Boston-based nonprofit organization dedicated to helping individuals and families who are homeless and may have substance use disorders, often accompanied by chronic health issues like HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C and mental illness. Providing a welcoming environment, our compassionate and inspiring team is committed to helping them regain their health and restore their hope through immediate access to Hope House Review Review safe and stable housing. When individuals and families are safely housed, they’re much more likely to address their physical and mental health, addictions, and other issues.
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. She’s always been cautious of sharing too much, in part because she’s aware that the people she is helping have their own traumas that they may not be ready to talk about. A client-driven service dedicated to supporting the needs of individuals living with HIV who need assistance accessing community resources. The Jamaica Plain Recovery Center (JPRC) is a peer-led community center in partnership with Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
Our goal is to create a safe, welcoming space for individuals from all backgrounds who are navigating addiction recovery. We established a nurturing community where every member finds belonging and plays an active role in shaping their journey toward recovery. Hope House 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. Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Remembering her own experiences — of sleeping in cars or under a bridge, of wanting to end her own life — and the moments when people helped, or failed to help, Rivera said she continues to find herself wanting to do more to aid people in similar need. 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.
We are excited to bring you the latest issue of Hope House Review’ print newsletter, The Doorway! The Fall edition is packed with inspiring stories and messages of resilience, generosity, and hope from our clients, staff, and supporters who are transforming lives and strengthening our communities. 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. 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.