“I don't work. This is not work to me. It is 100% my purpose and I get to fulfill that purpose. And it is absolutely incredible to see that other people find health and wellbeing.”
The Never Alone Clubhouse is an Addiction Recovery Support Center in Douglas County. Jocelyn Wallace, the founder and executive director of the program, sat down with us to talk about how this nonprofit supports the community.
“I get the front row seat of seeing someone coming in at their absolute lowest point, whether it be a family member or the individual with substance use disorder. I get to see them just broken and totally in shambles, and they cannot even see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Addiction recovery is often a painful thing to witness, but even more so to go through yourself. Jocelyn’s passion for her work comes partly from firsthand experience.
“Unfortunately, when I was 16, I got placed on some pain medication and immediately it set off a receptor inside of my body, and I was addicted. I looked at my father and I said, ‘I wanna feel like this for the rest of my life.’ And unbeknownst to him, I sought that until I was 40 years old. So I knew that there were different places and intersections in my life that could have made a difference, whether it be through EMS, the emergency room department incarceration or just within the community.
“But I was so filled with guilt and shame and remorse, and I was so afraid to talk about my own personal addiction. So today I speak out loud, so others don't die quietly. And hence we have the Never Alone Clubhouse.”
That experience extends into the way that the Never Alone Clubhouse treats its patients as well. With knowledge of how addiction affects someone, and what would have helped at the time, Jocelyn is able to apply that care to make a difference directly in the individuals of Douglas County and beyond.
“Addiction affected not just me, but it affected my entire family. And the cool thing is that recovery has done just that too. So I get to work here as a certified peer specialist, but so does my family. My daughter works for me and she is a certified peer specialist for mental health. And my mother is a certified peer specialist for families and parents. And so we get to meet individuals exactly where they are without judgment and give them perspective from our own lived experience.”
In addition, the organization has a staunch policy to provide services with no charge.
“Nobody has to walk this journey alone. This is a very lonely, lonely disease. And if there's anything that we can do as an organization, we will show up and we will be there for the family, for that individual. Everything that we do, every service that we provide is at no charge to the individual or the family. We've never charged for a service and we never will charge for a service because we don't want that to be the barrier to access to care.”
The Zachos Team quickly saw the value in such a compassionate cause, and we’re proud to assist Jocelyn and others with bringing the Never Alone Clubhouse the support it needs.
“Paul has really believed in what we're doing in the community. And he has brought resources to us. He has made connections for us to individuals in the community. And to see him support our organization in the way that he has is so heartwarming because we do face, unfortunately, a lot of stigma in the community because of drug addiction and substance use disorder. Also, individuals with criminal involvement. And he has helped us, and The Zachos Team has helped us, break down that stigma and show people that not only do we recover, but recovery is also expected.
“We get to see that hope, that light of hope come on in somebody's eyes. And then in months or a year, we get to see reunification of their families. We get to see them buy their cars and get homes and help them with all of that.”
If this is a cause you feel called to help, reach out to us or the Never Alone Clubhouse directly to find out how you can help. This is a wonderful nonprofit that we’re glad to support in any way we can.
“At the Never Alone Clubhouse, we all believe that the opposite to addiction is connection. And we're willing to form that connection in any spot that we're allowed to. And that's the spirit throughout our whole organization. Like when you come here, you truly feel like you've walked into your best friend's house. So we're just really proud of that. We’re really excited to continue to serve this community.”
Written by Paul Zachos III