Recovery home eyed for Yuma
Donations sought to create facility
Following the death of her son, local real estate agent Carol Engler has teamed up with substance abuse therapist Jon Hooper and others to establish a recovery home in Yuma that would provide support for an average of seven to nine months.
Hooper currently manages the Arizona Families First Program for Community Health Associates. According to the Arizona Department of Child Safety website, the program helps parents address substance abuse issues that are affecting their ability to care appropriately for their children or to get and keep a job.
Hooper himself says he struggled with his own addictions for almost two decades. His biography shows that he went from being homeless in 1996 to being a Chief Operating Officer of a behavioral health agency in 2014.
Engler lost her son Aaron back in 2012 when he lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a light post near the intersection of 14th Street and Avenue A while under the influence of drugs, she says.
Presently, Hooper is the executive director of three nonprofit recovery houses, including “Hoop’s House” for men aged 18 and over in Sierra Vista, Ariz. One of the houses is named after Aaron, though Engler says they might rename it as she hopes to name the recovery house in Yuma after her son once it opens.
Hooper says his homes were inspired by a recovery house in upstate New York for men who were being released from prison and who had a substance abuse diagnosis. He found that supporting these men with outpatient services, 12-step meetings and employment gives them the “best chance to succeed and be able to give back to society and the community.”
Prior to his death at 25-years-of-age, Aaron was enrolled at Arizona Western College and working toward his associate degree. He had Tourette’s syndrome and at a young age, an article was written about him in the Yuma Daily Sun detailing him as an advocate for those with the
disease, which is a nervous system disorder involving repetitive or unwanted sounds.
Before the accident, Engler says that Aaron spent 30 days at a local rehabilitation center before being released.
“You just can’t let these people out after 30 days without structure,” Engler said. “If this program had been here in Yuma, I know my son would still be alive today. I know there are other people out there like him that need that consistency, that structure. After they get out of a 30 day-even a 90 day rehab — you can’t change 25 years of behavior in 30 days.”
Engler says that Hooper himself worked with Aaron. She added that Hooper used to work for the Yuma Arizona Counseling and Treatment Services (ACTS) before moving and opening Hoop’s House.
“When I was working with her son Aaron, we were making progress,” Hooper said. “If there was truly a program that is spread out from seven to nine months or ten months or even longer, it would have given him a much better chance to succeed.”
According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) most recent statistics, which were last updated in January of this year, 46.4 percent of inmates were incarcerated for drug offenses.
Hooper feels that many of those struggling with substance abuse need help in order to stop of the cycle of addiction. He notes that without treatment, many of them may find themselves being arrested multiple times for drug abuse.
“We believe that alcohol and drugs are not the problem,” Hooper said. “They are the problem if you continue to drink and get high, but if you put it down, now you can have the chance and the ability to work on yourself and make those changes.”
Hooper says drugs and alcohol can exasperate a mental illness, and that many who suffer from such illnesses use drugs to cope with their condition. Thus, while at Hoop’s house, ther- apists and other mental health professionals work with the men on their coping skills.
“The mental illness piece, that is an issue, but it’s nowhere near as severe as when you are under the influence,” Hooper noted. “Drugs create different issues with the brain that affect us all differently. When you are under the influence, you have no hope.”
Since Hoop’s House opening in June of last year, Hooper says that out of 51 men, 13 have not completed the program. Of those 13, Hooper says only five did not graduate due to relapse.
The ultimate goal, he says, is to reintegrate these men back into society. Called intensive outpatient treatment, the program begins with 90 meetings in 90 days, like Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous.
Before being accepted into the program, Hooper says that each of the men must complete an interview with him to see if they are appropriate for the recovery house. Some of the criteria, he said, includes having a diagnosis of substance abuse, and the men must not have certain histories such as a “sexual (assault) history, arson history or a psychotic violent history.”
Hooper explained that he found that the success rate jumped for people who had a safe, structured, drug-free living environment for an average of seven to nine months.
“It could be longer depending on the person and what they are going through,” Hooper said.
He noted that Hoop’s House aims to offer a more “homey” environment so that it has less of a feel of an institution. Along with attending meetings, Hooper says the men are given chores and must work within the house.
Personnel with Hoop’s house also assist the men with finding jobs so that they can then start paying rent at the recovery house as well as other necessary fees they may have.
“We are not funded by the state or federal government of any sort,” Hooper said. “We are strictly on donations, and we need to raise money to get the house open. Then we can self-sustain, because they come and start paying rent.”
Hooper says that even men with felonies are given help with finding work.
“We have 30 men right now in Cochise ( County) and of those 30, 25 are working,” Hooper said. “We have them in an array of employment from fast food to moving companies to a couple of manufacturing companies. The feedback I have been getting from their employers is that they are hard workers.”
“They work hard because you give them the opportunity,” Hooper added.
A percentage of their earnings goes into a savings account set up for the men so that when they integrate back into society, they can have some funds, Hooper said.
After the men complete their first 90 days, they are encouraged to pursue an education, whether that be obtaining their GED (General Education Diploma) or applying for college.
“You can improve your financial and employment situation if you get your GED if you don’t have it,” Hooper said. “Then, we hope they move on to college.”
Presently, Hooper says that there are about 14 men within the program who are taking college classes. While at the house, the men also receive counseling services and are schooled on their ABC’s-attitude, behavior and choices.
“You hear the cliches about taking it one day at a time,” Hooper said. “Those are things that we need to take seriously. To focus on today is important. We are going to think about tomorrow, but we need to focus on today because sometimes it just takes today to get through.”
In total, Hooper says he has 30 men in the program and 36 beds within the house. The empty beds are due to men currently graduating the program.
“They have hope today, and that’s all they need,” Hooper said. “If you have any hope, I don’t care if it’s just a little flicker of light, you have a chance now to move forward.”
Hooper and Engler note that offering such recovery homes to men is a starting point, and they hope to one day work on expanding ser- vices to women as well.
Engler says that they currently have two possible locations for the recovery houses for men in Yuma. Hooper adds that he aims to expand as much as possible.
“Our expansion is going to be into Yuma, and what we are going to do is open at least one if not more recovery homes as needed,” Hooper said. “I am here doing research, searching for homes and meeting legal and behavioral health professionals about what’s happening. We are having a lot of success today and we hope to try to maintain that. We want to share that with Yuma County.”
Ben DeCorse, one of the deputy chiefs and public information officer at Yuma County Adult Probation Center, says that those within the department believe that the addition of Hoop’s House in Yuma could be a useful resource for their clients.
For more information on Hoop’s House, call Hooper at (520) 678-4210 or call Engler at (928) 446-3019.
Hoop’s House also has a website, www.hoopshouse. org .