Meet Our Staff New Life House Review

We are excited to bring you the latest issue of New Life House Review’ print newsletter, The Doorway! The Fall edition is packed with inspiring stories and messages of resilience, generosity, and hope from our clients, staff, and supporters who are transforming lives and strengthening our communities. We follow a low-barrier housing-first clinically driven approach to guide clients towards health and safety. Rivera said whenever she learns of another fatal overdose, she finds herself wondering about how there could have been a different outcome.

The great majority have histories of trauma, chronic substance use, and mental health issues. Almost half live with HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C, and/or other chronic health conditions. When individuals and families are safely housed, they’re much more New Life House Review Review likely to address their physical and mental health, addictions, and other issues.

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Our goal is to create a safe, welcoming space for individuals from all backgrounds who are navigating addiction recovery. We established a nurturing community where every member finds belonging and plays an active role in shaping their journey toward recovery. Our specialized, short-term treatment programs are for individuals diagnosed with substance use disorder who have additional treatment needs. They talk to people on the street around Mass. and Cass about the services they have and offer resources. Over the 14 years, Rivera said she found herself constantly wanting to learn more about harm reduction and the ways to help people, like herself, who deal with addiction and recovery.

Prevention

For many, New Life House Review represents the last possibility for hope and the first chance for sustained success in their battles with substance use or illness. When individuals and families are safely housed, they’re much more likely to address their health, addictions, and other issues. It’s a “housing first” approach that includes stabilization services, emergency shelter, transitional and permanent housing, and case management. On the streets, at our Boston Living Center, and across programs, we work to prevent chronic conditions and overdoses. We provide HIV, Hepatitis C, and STI testing and counseling; a healthy meals program; syringe and naloxone distribution; and an array of education, navigation, and support services.

1. Our specialized, short-term treatment programs are for individuals diagnosed with substance use disorder who have additional treatment needs.
2. By the time that she was about 8, her mother moved the family to Springfield, Massachusetts.
3. We focus on what a person is doing “well,” with a nurturing effect that fosters continued effort from the first steps toward progress and growth.
4. They make sure people have clean needles and talk to those who are engaged with sex work, asking how they are keeping themselves safe.
5. “We were always left alone, and the violence that was in the house was not normal,” she said of living with her mother.
6. For many, New Life House Review represents the last possibility for hope and the first chance for sustained success in their battles with substance use or illness.

Residential Recovery Programs

Remembering her own experiences —  of sleeping in cars or under a bridge, of wanting to end her own life — and the moments when people helped, or failed to help, Rivera said she continues to find herself wanting to do more to aid people in similar need. “Every time I had an appointment, they had somebody to come with me because it’s how I felt safe,” she said. But she said it’s also taken her a long time to feel comfortable sharing what she experienced as a child and teenager, which resulted in her own years-long struggle with substance use, incarceration, and instability. Being able to provide that respite and getting to see individuals who have come in from the street smile (she calls them “members”) is the best, she told Boston.com.

“It’s happening a lot,” Rivera said, emphasizing that there are more dangerous substances being put in the drugs being consumed on the street. Each day, she and her colleagues at the Connector also do about two hours of street outreach, rotating who stays in the office and who goes out. When Rivera was moved to Casa Esperanza’s new housing on Eustis Street, she again felt flooded with feelings of fear and nervousness about the change, she recalled.

They want to know that there are people out there who care, who won’t treat them “like they’re trash,” Rivera said. There were an estimated 1,696 fatal overdoses in Massachusetts during the first nine months of 2022, according to the state Department of Public Health. Fentanyl was found in nearly every opioid-related fatal overdose during that period, according to the state. When people come in, she and her colleagues offer hot meals and find out what their needs may be. They make sure people have clean needles and talk to those who are engaged with sex work, asking how they are keeping themselves safe.