Hickory Hill Recovery Center Opens

Hickory Hill Recovery Center (HHRC) is now open to clients. Located in Knott County, Kentucky, HHRC will house up to 100 men recovering from drug and alcohol abuse.  The opening of HHRC comes at a crucial time when Eastern Kentucky finds itself listed as having one of the nation’s highest rates of prescription drug abuse.

Recovery Centers play a crucial role in reducing poverty, crime, and recidivism in people dealing with drug and alcohol addiction.   Studies are showing people who have a community to turn to and a culture of support and belief are less likely to abuse or relapse in the use of drugs and alcohol.   Recovery centers and group counseling help to establish a sense of community, support, and respect.

Currently HHRC has seven dedicated peer mentors who live on site.   The peer mentors are all men with similar backgrounds to the potential clients of HHRC and they are all men whom have graduated from recovery programs. Peer mentoring has a high rate of success because these graduates can connect on a very personal level to the men currently undergoing recovery. They serve to demonstrate that recovery is fully possible and there is hope for a quality life after addiction.

HHRC has several programs in place to help residents develop daily living skills and job responsibilities. The programs will help them to establish new behaviors to gain control over their lives, maintain employment, and eventually obtain permanent housing.

Recovery centers don’t just change the lives of the residents; they also positively impact the community. As individuals recover, their family lives are more likely to stabilize, they are more likely to hold down jobs and contribute to the local tax base. Such activities severely cut down the level of crime and poverty in an area.

HHRC is a joint collaboration between Fahe member Kentucky River Community Care and Recovery Kentucky, a state-based addiction and recovery organization. Hickory Hill is the eleventh drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in the state.

Fahe helped to secure needed funding for HHRC so the facility can operate without any hard debt so that any income earned can be used to serve the residents.