John Smith has battled addiction all his life and faced the “same vicious cycle” over and over again: temporary sobriety followed by a return to destructive behaviors. But since being arrested in November for carrying narcotics in his car, he has been five months clean.
His first step in breaking the pattern was to go through Avenues Recovery’s 60-day detox program at its Dublin location.
“That’s where I gathered my foundation,” Smith said. “I was able to express myself and figure out the reasons why I was possibly relapsing, why I couldn’t face reality, why I felt alone and depressed.”
Smith, now a resident at Home Sober Living in Manchester, shows up to nearly every event Avenues Recovery hosts for its members and alumni, from cornhole tournaments and holiday gatherings to leisurely hikes.
Most recently, he joined over a dozen people at Manchester’s Prout Park to pick up dead leaves and waste in a kick-off clean-up initiative the group organized in partnership with Sunlight of the Spirit Sober Living.
Avenues Recovery has offered holistic treatment and evidence-based care for those struggling with addiction since 2016. Across its Concord and Dublin locations, 634 people have sought treatment through Avenues Recovery, with 70% completing the detox program.
Avenues Recovery says 92% of alumni have stayed sober after one year, according to the organization’s website.
Elisabeth Murphy, the program’s alumni coordinator, said events like the park clean-up reinforce discipline and responsibility and help alumni to sustain long-term recovery.
“These individuals who once needed help are now leading the effort to help others and improve their community,” she said. “It’s like a full circle moment.”
Volunteers arrived in droves Sunday afternoon, equipped with rakes, blue plastic bags and silicone gloves. They dove head-first into cleaning the perimeter of the park; around them, children soared through the air on swings, couples chucked tennis balls for their dogs and friends played back-to-back rounds of pickelball.
For one year, the group will visit Prout Park for two hours every month for the clean-up initiative. A plaque will be installed once the workis complete to recognize both groups for their investment in the community.
Avenues Recovery holds weekly Tuesday meetings for past and present members, something that Alan Johnstone, from Concord, makes a point of attending. He graduated from the Dublin program in 2023 and tries to go to events whenever he can — although his three children keep him occupied.
He said being around others who also experienced recovery journeys of their own is “inspiring.”
“This is what keeps me good and going and fighting another day,” Johnstone said. “Just all of it, just being around it, is something I need for me to not go back to the bad life that I had.”
Sunlight of the Spirit Recovery Home is a step-down house for women in sober living. Katie Colsia went through the home as part of her sober journey and now, as a behavioral health technician at Recovery Avenues, she has experienced the work of supporting men and women through their recovery from both sides of the equation.
“Seeing [women] come in and they’re run down, and they think the worst of the worst in life, and you slowly start seeing that light come back in them, and you start seeing them get good jobs, and they start seeing their kids … I was a story just like that,” Colsia said.
At the clean-up, John Smith bent down to pick up every little bit of waste that caught his attention: Aluminum foil, torn paper and leaf litter all ended up in his blue trash bag. He said that many people invested their time into his recovery, but he ultimately had to find the “flame” within himself to stay on the path of sobriety.
“What makes me keep coming out to events to show people that it works, show people what a sober life could possibly be look like if they choose to do that route,” he said. “We can’t make no one stopping doing drugs, doing drinking. The only thing we can do is show up to events to show that we’re a strong community.”
