Founded in 1984, on the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous, Casa Esperanza’s approach to substance abuse treatment has evolved over more than two decades to meet the changing needs of our community. Today we maintain AA/NA as our core but also incorporate other evidence based approaches to treatment including: motivational interviewing, stages of change theory, cognitive behavioral therapy, trauma stage work, and a range of enhanced services designed to meet the unique needs of the people we serve. Casa Esperanza takes a holistic view of treatment recognizing that physical and mental health, family reunification, and economic independence are the essential building blocks of individual recovery, family stabilization, and community development.

From the first day an individual enters the program, house staff, treatment coordinators, clinicians, and administrators treat each person with dignity and respect. Likewise, staff strive to create a working environment that fosters positive, professional connections; modeling healthy relationships and working with individuals in treatment to help them build the skills they need to establish those relationships in their own lives. From respect, trust is established and then an individual can truly begin to use the resources that treatment has to offer.

Also, Casa Esperanza’s strength-based approach draws on the unique gifts and talents of each individual in working toward their own recovery. The same survival skills and creative strengths an individual relied on to sustain their addiction can be redirected in a positive way. Through active participation in treatment planning, a phased therapeutic approach, 12-Step work, and a variety of leadership opportunities, individuals have a chance to set realistic, attainable goals and build self-esteem. Even as they struggle with challenges and set-backs, this progressive approach to treatment helps them learn to live with mistakes, overcome adversity and take pride in their achievements.

At Casa Esperanza family takes on a whole new meaning. From family-style meals to family-style household chores, support groups and social activities, Casa fosters a communal environment that emphasizes peer support and accountability. Individuals establish connections with each other that can lead to a lifetime of mutual support and they begin to experience how a healthy family might function. Then, we reach beyond the individual in treatment to connect with their children, spouse, partner, parents, and extended family, whenever appropriate, to help build networks of support for the individual in treatment and the entire family.

We also recognize that many people cannot go home again, that family can be a trigger for using, and that some friends and neighborhoods must be left behind for an addict to stay safe and sober. That’s why we are always working towards strengthening our larger family—our community of recovery. Through the development of a continuum of care that extends beyond residential treatment to outpatient services and supportive housing, Casa helps provide vital aftercare that keeps families in recovery connected. Through our Alumni Association, graduates plan activities, learn new skills and mentor individuals new to recovery. Yet Casa is not just committed to strengthening the community on Eustis Street. By working with other recovery homes, health and human service organizations, government agencies and public leadership across the city and state—even across the country—we are learning new approaches to treatment, drawing on each others strength, spreading the message that treatment works and working to end the cycle of addiction one family at a time.