According to the National Institutes of Health, addiction is a chronic illness. Treating it long-term takes life-style modification. And doing that takes the help of special places for recovering addicts to live while transitioning back to the mainstream world.
Phoenix House in Canton provides such places. Five local homes where half a dozen to a dozen recovering addicts live, supported by a trained staff of mostly former clients of the service and each other. They have jobs and together pay for the continuing operation.
Director Larry Parsons says Phoenix is a type of transition program that has had success helping addicts in long-term recovery across the country. “They were all put together by people that believed in it because they have some knowledge of it. They were either in it themselves and went through it like myself...right? This model was brought here from Arizona. Hence the name Phoenix House. However, it ties really neatly into you know, starting from a pile of ashes and getting somewhere.”
Recovery housing for addiction treatment is available in all 88 Ohio Counties.