Critical funding will end in June for one of Friends of Recovery Dedicated to Others’ three recovery centers.
FOR-DO Assistant Director Kyle LaFever said Thursday, April 2 that the Building Communities of Recovery funding administered through the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration for FOR-DO’s downtown Norwich recovery center would cease June 30, marking the end of the three-year grant cycle. It provided the bulk of the center’s funding.
LaFever said FOR-DO is pursuing other avenues to obtain funding for the center and plans to maintain operations moving forward in some form.
“I think at this time we are currently trying to figure out what can we do to possibly continue this program because it has done so well,” LaFever said. “It’s really exceeding our expectations, and there’s a lot of people in Chenango County who rely on this center.”
The BOCR grant provided $300,000 a year in funding for the center. The elimination of this funding will cause a “distinct disruption of services,” LaFever added.
He said that when it opened initially in 2022, the location in Chenango County housed a few smaller programs to maintain staffing and “open the doors for mutual aid support meetings.” He said FOR-DO received a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission for a workforce development program called Rural Recoveries Developing Opportunities and Career Services, which did a lot of FOR-DO’s work at the Chenango County center.
In June 2023, FOR-DO was awarded the three-year BCOR grant through SAMHSA to establish the “full fledged recovery center” in Norwich. In its second year, the center saw more than 3,400 visitors. LaFever said this year, the center is on track to see close to 5,000 visitors. More than 100 people seek cost-free services through FOR-DO in Norwich each week.
“The center is busy on a daily basis,” LaFever said.
The center offers one-on-one recovery coaching sessions with a certified recovery peer advocate and helps to coordinate treatment, detox and medical appointments to help remove barriers for those seeking long term recovery, LaFever said. It additionally hosts relapse prevention workshops, sober social holiday events and provides services like computer access, transportation, hygiene supplies and mutual aid support meetings.
“The Alcoholics Anonymous community has really come in and embraced that center,” LaFever said. “They are there having meetings on a weekly basis, multiple meetings a week. I think we’ve got a total of six or seven mutual aid support meetings that happen at this center right now every week.”
He added that about 430 individuals engage in the center’s programs each month.
“We hope to maintain the facility and have the doors open as long as possible and have staff as long as we are able to,” LaFever said.
FOR-DO operates two more recovery centers, based in Oneonta and Delhi.
Addiction is a public health crisis, especially considering costs associated with police, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, hospital visits and health care, LaFever said. Recovery centers additionally can help to decrease recidivism rates, he added.
LaFever said these resources are helping Chenango County long term. People in recovery can promote prevention in shaping future generations, he said.
“It’s hard to put a dollar value on the importance of people’s lives,” LaFever said.
To donate, visit for-do.org/donate or call 607-373-3825.