BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — In 2013, Elizabeth Torres, then 47, stared at a bag of crack and a small bundle of bills.
For the longtime drug addict, it might have been a relaxed day. She had drugs, money, and she wasn’t even homeless- depending on your definition of a home.
But she didn’t want the drugs. Instead, she called her sister, and told her that she was hungry.
“I said ‘I’m home,’ but it wasn’t a home, it was just a place with no lights, sitting in my living room by myself, because my kids weren’t there.”
Three years sober, Torres is now the volunteer coordinator at the Bridgeport Recovery Community Center, which recently celebrated it’s 10-year anniversary. In attendance were political and social work leaders, including Mayor Joe Ganim and U.S. Rep Jim Himes, D-Conn., and a number of speakers who recounted stories of their recovery.
The center is part of a statewide network of the Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery. Inside the center’s doors on 49 Cannon Street, addicts can find tools to buck their habits. At a time when an opioid crisis has plagued the region, CCAR leaders want residents to know that there’s a place for people to turn.
Computers, phones and knowledgeable staff help addicts connect with services- everything from housing to suits for job interviews. Councilors hold job-training workshops, volunteers call recovering addicts from phone banks, and there’s always a cup of hot coffee for clients who need to think.
If a home is more than just a series of rooms and conveniences, than the Bridgeport Recovery Community Center is more than a set of desks, phones, and whiteboards.
Tucked in an alleyway off of Broad Street and Cannon Street, the building forms the hub for a committed group of recovering addicts who support each other.
