Building a New Life at Revive, Inc.

Incorporating a philosophy of mentorship and community building, Revive, Inc. operating as Horizon Recovery and Counseling Center, in Hasting, Neb. is making the journey to addiction recovery a road paved in friendships and personal growth.

After working with Horizon Recovery and Counseling Center as then director of the Hastings mission, Dan Rutt jumped at the opportunity to purchase the center in 2008, re-incorporating it as Revive, Inc. Rutt chose the name “revive” because of what the word evokes. 

“When you think about [the word] “revive”, you think new life, and that’s what we do here, help people create a new life,” Rutt, Revive, Inc. director said. Recognizing the link between substance abuse and mental health issues, the center has helped countless individuals recover from drug and alcohol addiction using intensive out patient recovery programs, one-on-one relationships, and comprehensive, extended services that help individual deal not only with their substance abuse problems, but also the root causes of the abuse.

Revive offers a variety of recovery programs based on the clients’ individual needs and recommendations from trained drug and alcohol counselors at the center. What sets Revive apart from other 12-step based courses is its After Care and housing program, the Unity Houses.

Individuals who have completed an intensive out-patient program, whether at Revive or another facility, are able to participate in Revive’s 26-week After Care program which incorporates weekly group sessions and monthly one-on-one counseling sessions. Although not mandatory, while completing the After Care program, or any of Revive’s recovery programs, those interested can live for a minimum of six months at one of Revive’s three Unity Houses which provide a sober living environment for up to 10 individuals at a time in each of the homes. Currently, only men are able to participate in the housing program, but Revive is hoping to open a house for women in the future.

The Unity Houses find success using a self-managed approach with the help of mentors and house managers all of which are individuals who have successfully completed the recovery program. The house manager acts as liaison between individuals at the house and management at Revive.

“The mentors are supportive to the house manager – when things aren’t going well, the mentors will befriend these guys and will give them support and advice like a sponsor, but more on a friend basis than a sponsor. That is the piece that has been really working well for us with the housing program. As professionals, we can only do so much,” Rutt says. “The guys who actually lived it are the ones who can do a lot to help; the guys will listen to them [the mentors] because they’ve been through it. It’s kind of a unique environment.”

In fact, as the program continues, Rutt says that more and more men choose to come back as mentors and an increasing number of men decide to stay living at the Unity House beyond the six-month commitment, sometimes as long as 15 months.

“One of the guys recently said to me that when he was living in the house, for the longest time all he wanted to do was leave. Eventually he got to the point where he didn’t want to leave, and it was then that he knew he should, that now he was ready,” Rutt said. “When we can get guys to go from wanting to leave the house as soon as possible, to us having to encourage them to leave, that’s when we know that the program is working.”

Another key component to the success of the Unity Houses is that participants are encouraged to participate in the community and to help out others. From time to time Revive receives phone calls from people who want to help a participant earn money for their rent by taking on some side jobs. Rutt says that taking on these projects not only helps the guys earn some extra money, but it helps them build their self esteem.

“The philosophy here is to get clients involved in community activities and to let them know there are people who care about them,” Rutt said. “They’re building new relationships away from the environment that they were involved in before.”

In addition to Revive’s existing recovery programs, the center is hoping to initiate a co-occurring group for participants with dual diagnoses to help them deal with not only their addiction issues, but also their mental health issues and has plans to incorporate more life skills training to help participates overcome the stresses involved with budgeting, time management, and other personal skills.

Funding from the South Heartland District Health Department and through the Juvenile Justice Plan have allowed Revive, Inc. to offer sponsorships to individuals who are 185% poverty or who may have otherwise fallen through the cracks, as Rutt says, but donations to expand services and offer additional programming is always needed as the center is funded almost exclusively for services rendered.

Visit www.horizonrecoverycenter.com for more information about Revive, Inc. or contact the center by phone at 402.462.2066 to join the mailing list, make a donation, or to learn how you can help.