Peer-led support group is United Way’s newest funded agency
Ross Cunningham, director of the Recovery Zone, and from left, Daisy Cummings, Mary Cox and Alicia Ginn help prepare a daily meal to share at Recovery Zone. The peer-led support center is open 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and on weekends for activities and support groups. (PHOTO | DAVE BEZUSKO, UNITED WAY)
For the better part of a year, J.R. Frost would walk into Recovery Zone, 440 E. St. Paris St., Bellefontaine.
Without saying a word, he’d grab a cup of coffee, walk out to the front porch, sit on the swing, and stare off into the distance. All day. Every day.
The depressed Bellefontaine man had suicidal thoughts after suffering a serious injury that prevented him from going to work. He came to Recovery Zone to find himself.
“I believe I would be dead if Recovery Zone weren’t here,” J.R. said in January, nearly five years after he first walked through the door. “It probably would have been too much pressure. ‘What am I here for? What is my purpose?’ I have great purpose now.”
Now, J.R. is employed as Recovery Zone’s maintenance director, overseeing the facilities of the peer-led mental health and addiction support center on Bellefontaine’s west side. Recovery Zone is one of United Way’s newest Funded Agencies, receiving a $15,000 allocation in 2017 to help people like J.R. overcome their battles with mental health and addiction.
Read complete story in Saturday’s Examiner.
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