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The Keene Serenity Center had an open house fundraiser Saturday June 14th.  The event had representatives from Keene Serenity Center, HOPE for Recovery, Monadnock Peer Support Services,  Monadnock Voices for Prevention, Monadnock Alcohol and Drug Abuse Coalition, Cheshire County Drug Courts, and Cheshire County Tobacco Free Communities.

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 Posted: Tuesday, July 1, 2014 12:37 pm             

 

 

Posted on Jul 1, 2014

by ELLA NILSEN

 

With the knowledge that comes with battling their own addictions, a group of local residents has started a place for recovering addicts of all ages to get help.

The Keene Serenity Center on Carpenter Street is a substance abuse recovery center that opened last year.

But with much of the past few months devoted to construction and preparation, the center has just started to ramp up its programs and as a drop-in center.

Though it’s modeled after “The Serenity Club,” a former Alcoholics Anonymous program in the city, the new space isn’t meant exclusively for recovery meetings and 12-step programs, said founder Gary Croteau.

Anyone can come to the center for help looking for treatment, if he or she wants to talk to another person in recovery, or even simply to hang out in a place that is drug- and alcohol-free, Croteau said.

Drug and alcohol recovery programs have been helping local residents for years, but the need is especially pronounced with the most recent prescription drug and heroin problems that have hit the Monadnock Region, along with the rest of the state and country.

Local emergency room doctors and health officials say heroin has become the drug of choice for many because it is cheap and easily accessible.

People with addictions can’t come to the Serenity Center expecting that alone will get them clean, Croteau said. But center volunteers can point them in the right direction, and can offer friendly, supportive voices if someone is struggling, he said.

Croteau has sober for more than 30 years; many of the board members and volunteers have similar backgrounds.

In a state that has little public funding for substance abuse treatment and prevention, Croteau says organizations like his are especially important.

New Hampshire is ranked second-worst in the nation per capita for the availability of treatment, according to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. That survey reported just under 6 percent of the state’s population in need of treatment were able to get it.

“New Hampshire is a very negligent state in doing anything as far as taking care of people, helping them find recovery ... there is zero support for recovery in the state,” Croteau said.

In addition, one of the reasons they started the new center was to reintroduce a feeling of community among local residents who are in recovery. That feeling was more prominent back in the years when he was first getting clean, Croteau said.

“People would congregate after meetings and spend time talking after meetings,” Croteau said. “People did stuff together, and a lot of that has changed over time. It’s like people in our area have lost that community sense.”

But Croteau didn’t want to go by the strict rules of a 12-step program, which includes not being able to take contributions from outside sources.

The center has memberships of $50 a year for those who will use the services regularly, while $100 a year grants a person 24/7 access to the center.

There are about 35 paying members at the center, and about four to five people visit the center each day, volunteer Wayne Courtemanche said.

In addition to hosting Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings, the center also hosts meetings for Overeaters Anonymous and other types of behavioral addictions.

The center is also starting meditation and yoga classes, and hopes to expand its offerings, according to board members Todd Schillinger and Russell Thomas.

A year ago, the space looked drastically different, with a concrete floor and electrical wires hanging from the ceiling.

“It was something out of a horror movie,” Schillinger said, laughing.

Today, the walls are painted yellow and the floors are waxed. It’s clean and sparse, mostly vacant on a recent Friday afternoon. Chairs surround the walls of the main meeting room, where groups like Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous can gather.

There’s a kitchen, some smaller rooms where recovering addicts can meet with their sponsors privately, and a game room, for socializing and hanging out.

The game room is important, Croteau says, so people with addictions can enjoy themselves in a setting that’s free of drugs and alcohol.

“One of the more important things for anyone new in recovery is ... ‘What am I going to do with myself; the fun’s gone,’” Croteau said.

There’s also a computer and a bunch of pamphlets for rehab and recovery centers in the state.

Courtemanche said he got his first opportunity to counsel someone a few weeks ago, while he was cleaning at the center, when a young man struggling with alcohol was dropped off by his parents.

Courtemanche has been free of drugs and alcohol for nine years. He’s not a licensed therapist or counselor, but he has similar experiences to draw from, he said.

“I was a little nervous at first, because I know how I was when I was in recovery,” he said. “I just wanted to be left alone.” But, nevertheless, he sat down with the young man and told him his story. Courtemanche said he seemed receptive.

Helping people who are going through the early stages of recovery is “where my heart is,” he said.

“I’m one of those people where, before I got clean and sober, I was a really bad person,” he said. “It’s almost like erasing some of those bad marks” by helping out in the community, “instead of being part of the problem.”

Ella Nilsen can be reached at [email protected] or 352-1234, extension 1409. Follow her on Twitter @ENilsenKS.