As with families, Battlefield Addiction advocates for community entities to transform their approach to addiction through a greater awareness of factors that perpetuate the problem. Through collaboration across organizations and services (such as business owners, city officials, the police, the criminal justice system, homeless service providers, and healthcare providers) positive change CAN happen. Battlefield Addiction has only just begun to make the impact that we are determined to make…

     Our first community project, the Battlefield Coffee House in Auburn, was opened in March of 2018.  The coffee house was designed to reconnect those in recovery with communities through internship training programs, second chance hiring and being of service to the community. The Intern Program was a training ground and support system for those in recovery who need a transitional program. It also served as a type of “relapse prevention” as interns learned to navigate the stresses of learning, or re-learning, how to navigate a job and workplace. In the process, we developed great relationships with local businesses, the Mayor, Police, and First Responders of Auburn. The coffee house was not just a coffee shop but had become a “space for exploration and creation” for the Interns in our program. It had also become a hub for staff, volunteers, community members, families of addicts, and those in recovery alike.

     Although COVID forced the coffee house to close permanently, our vision for a connected community has not changed: We are in the process of planning a new mentoring/intern program where former addict mentees learn to mentor new recovering addicts. The focus will be on life and job skills, health and self-care skills, communication and relationship skills, time management, money management (including dealing with bad credit, debt, restitution, etc.), stress management, and the importance of citizenship. The mentoring/intern program will also act as a “safety net” to get prompt re-treatment if a relapse occurs. Additionally, the mentees will regularly do out-reach to raise awareness for treatment, recovery, and sober living needs. This can provide the opportunity for community members to meet people in recovery and change perceptions about addiction and its’ solutions.