The center, located at 1 Lafayette Road Unit One in Hampton, will officially open Monday. July 29. The center will initially be open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.
SOS is a non-profit peer-led recovery community organization with two recovery community centers. SOS opened the first recovery community center in Rochester at 63 S. Main St in August of 2016 and they opened the second one in Dover at 4 Broadway in April of 2017. In 2018 over 10,000 visits were made to the two existing centers.
SOS provides a variety of peer recovery supports including meetings, peer recovery support services such as recovery coaching and telephone recovery supports, crisis navigation and a variety of activities such as yoga, art in recovery, music in recovery, and social activities.
“We are excited to get the center open and hopeful the community will come out and see the center and volunteer to help those in need of these critical services,” said Sheena Nutton, capacity building specialist for the Hampton Recovery Community Center. “It is vital in the spirit of our mission and model that we get community stakeholders involved and engaged. This will be a slow and gradual ramp-up of services due to funding and we hope to speak with individuals using the center to determine a full calendar of programming. We expect at least one weekly yoga class and we will hold at least 2 All-Recovery meetings to start.”
SOS Recovery Community Organization held a series of information sessions over the early spring at the Hampton Police Department and presented to the Board of Selectmen. SOS anticipated opening in May but has been delayed because a portion of the $45 million in State Opioid Response funding that was earmarked through a subcontract has yet to be released.
“Out of $45 million of funding only approximately $1 million was set to go directly to peer recovery community organizations for peer recovery support services in recovery community centers,” said John Burns, director of SOS Recovery Community Organization. “A contract which would allow opening three new centers including Hampton was scheduled to be approved at the governor and Executive Council’s meeting on April 17, 2019, but the contract was pulled back and no communication on when that funding might be released has come forward since.”
Burns said, “Fortunately Connections for Health, Integrated Delivery Network for Region 6, Seacoast and Strafford County has funded one full-time position to staff the center and the Seacoast Women’s Giving Circle awarded SOS a $25,000 grant as well. Without these two sources of generous funding, we would be in the same boat the other two new centers that can’t open are in and there is no possible way we could open SOS in Hampton.”
SOS has been accepting donations for office supplies and needs online through an Amazon wishlist for the last week and received a number of donations. If you would like to assist with supporting SOS or are interested in more info you may donate or get more info on their website at www.sosrco.org.
The mission of SOS is to reduce stigma and harm associated with substance use and misuse by providing safe space and peer-based supports for people in all stages of recovery. SOS is a program of Greater Seacoast Community Health, a non-profit 501c3, federally qualified health centers made up of Goodwin Community Health in Somersworth, Families First in Portsmouth, and Lilac Pediatrics in Rochester.