Communities in the Recovery Capital Prevail
By: Tyler Childress
Tags: Coronavirus, Recovery, Covid 19, Delray Beach, Lockdown

By Tyler Childress

The City of Delray Beach has long been a destination for addicts seeking to free themselves from the deadly grasp of alcohol and drug addiction. With hundreds of 12-step meetings, dozens of treatment centers, and a vast support network of recovering addicts, this idyllic beach city has provided a safe haven for thousands of people on the path to recovery. But the community in what was once labelled the “recovery capital” of America is now facing lasting challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The difficulties began in March, when an emergency resolution from Delray Beach city commissioners ordered the closure of all non-essential businesses, which included 12-step meeting clubs. As a result of this resolution, thousands of recovering addicts were left without a vital connection to their support networks until May when the order was amended to allow for reopening under limited capacity. Since May, further amendments have gradually removed most restrictions, but the initial lockdown conditions and the threat still posed by COVID-19 have required 12-step clubs to make lasting changes in the way that they operate.

The Crossroads Club in Delray Beach was one of the clubhouses ordered to close in March, but was able to adapt to the circumstances with the help of online meeting technology like Zoom. Steven English, 48, is the Assistant Executive Director of the Crossroads Club and helped with the transition of meetings to an online format.

Crossroads Club in Delray Beach

“We had a drain and fill method of shifting people from the in-person meetings to the virtual meetings,” says English, explaining that in the early weeks of the pandemic the staff of Crossroads knew that a lockdown was imminent and so they began gradually shifting the format. “We started by running virtual meetings parallel to the in-person meetings,” he says, explaining that by the time the lockdown orders came, many of the fellowships had already successfully made the transition. The virtual format, however, is not without its own issues.

“People with 20 years sober who you thought had the most solid foundations were struggling,” says English, explaining that veteran members and newcomers alike were having a difficult time without the ability to physically interact with each other. He adds that the relationship between sponsees and the sponsors who are meant to take them through their 12 steps were especially strained by the distance. “There has to be some physicality in that, or the connection comes apart,” explains English. Despite these challenges, however, English states that the community was able to rise to the task.

“There’s this singularity of purpose,” explains English, which brought the community together to help those who were most vulnerable. Laptops were provided for some members who didn’t have a way to attend virtual meetings, and younger and more healthy members of the community helped run errands for those who were more susceptible to the virus. In some cases, the online format allowed for opportunities that weren’t available before the use of virtual meetings. English states that he was able to attend and speak in virtual meetings that were being held all over the world, including New York and London. “I said that I was going to turn this negative into a positive,” says English.

The Crossroads Club reopened on May 26 after being closed to non-essential personnel for over two months. Many of the various meeting fellowships responded by re-transitioning to an in-person format, but the Crossroads Club still isn’t seeing the level of attendance that it was once used to.

“Before COVID, around 800 people attended meetings daily at Crossroads,” says English, with the number now being around 400 that attend any of the dozens of daily meetings held at the club. The transition has also resulted in a decrease in revenue for the club which, like many other twelve step meeting clubs, survives through donations from members. “There were a lot of challenges and there continues to be,” explains English, but stresses that the safety of group members is the top priority.

“We do a lot of sanitation here so that people feel safe,” says English, citing the strict cleaning procedures have been put into place, with sanitary aerosols being sprayed before and after every meeting. A sign hangs on the front door stating that masks are mandatory for entry, and seating in the meeting halls is spaced out in accordance with social distancing guidelines.

“We want to stay in alignment with the state and local government,” says English, as group members make their way back to the fellowships that have helped them in their fight for sobriety. But even though the reopening of 12-step meeting clubs has eased some of the pressure felt from the lockdowns, much more remains in the form of income and housing insecurity for those in the recovery community.

With the majority of recovering addicts transitioning to halfway houses after finishing inpatient or while completing outpatient programs, the question arises of how these individuals will be able to maintain stable housing in an unstable economy.

The Harmony Healing Center in Delray Beach, a treatment center with inpatient and outpatient programs that operates several sober living homes, has made strides in their attempts to ensure that their clients’ recovery isn’t threatened by not having a place to live. Matthew Byrne, 27, CEO of Harmony Healing Center, explains the ways in which his treatment center has been able to aid its clients.

“For the clients who couldn’t pay rent we put them on a financial hardship,” says Byrne, which he explains is a sort of scholarship for their housing program. “We would go to Walmart and buy food, drinks, and snacks for the clients who had nothing and no money,” adds Byrne, and that while the law required them to collect some part of the rent, they worked with clients and accepted whatever payments could be made towards the amount due. For those in the inpatient and outpatient programs, Byrne stated that Harmony worked within health guidelines to ensure the best possible care for their clients.

Sober Living Houses from Harmony Healing Center

“We had to cut the size of the groups in half so they could be the appropriate amount of feet apart and so we would still meet the guidelines of no more than 10 people in a group therapy setting,” explains Byrne, and that sometimes group therapy sessions would be conducted outside on the grounds of the clinical building to make sure that proper social distancing was practiced. Byrne admits that since the pandemic started, they have noticed a drop in admissions because of Harmony’s COVID-19 protocols which had prohibited them from admitting anyone from another state or anyone who had been on a plane within the CDC recommended two week quarantine time.

“If they had any fever or had been sick in a two-week timeframe, we were not allowed to admit the client,” says Byrne. The COVID-19 restrictions didn’t only affect admissions, either, as Byrne explains. “We did notice an increase in relapses during the lockdown because there wasn’t much they were able to do, and eventually they would end up in there head which would cause them to go out and relapse for some relief,” explains Byrne, stating that, “for an addict, being in their head is the most dangerous place to be.” With the recent end of lockdowns, however, Byrne has noticed a positive change in clients.

“[They] have been able to go back to attending daily meetings and working with their sponsors and are going out and building their network of sober supports that they can call in times of struggle and not just be cooped up in their houses,” says Byrne, stating that establishing these connections and plugging into the wider recovery network is vital to a person’s sobriety.

The CDC recommended safety guidelines put into place by the Harmony Healing Center are being used in treatment centers everywhere, including in detox centers which are usually the first stop on a person’s road to recovery. Jared Kirschner, 44, is the Director of Business Development for Retreat of Broward, a residential detox center focused on getting clients through drug and alcohol withdrawals and into the next level of care. He explains the strict protocols adhered to by detox centers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Welcome Center at The Retreat of Broward

“Everything is marked, there are signs everywhere, and marks on the ground for where you can stand and sit,” explains Kirschner, adding that with the advent of rapid testing, staff members and new admissions are able to be tested for COVID-19 quickly and efficiently. Unfortunately, there were very little options for clients who tested positive.

“If they found out they had COVID, they would AMA,” says Kirschner, meaning that they would discharge themselves against medical advice. This happened, Kirschner says, because the facility had no choice but to quarantine them for the CDC-recommended 14 days, and some of them weren’t willing to go that long being confined to their room.

“I couldn’t imagine being stuck in a room like that, not being able to see anybody or even smoke a cigarette,” says one recovering addict, adding, “I’d probably want to leave too.”

These efforts by 12-step meeting venues, halfway houses, inpatient/outpatient programs, and detox centers are being made in attempt to delicately balance the threat of a viral pandemic and the threat of addiction, with both being potentially deadly to those affected. The Sun Sentinel revealed that overdose deaths have risen sharply since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and explained how the instability stemming from the pandemic is a factor which has led to addicts relapsing. Now that cases of COVID-19 are once again surging in Florida, it is likely that the pressures facing addicts will only be exacerbated by a second wave of the virus.

With the recent rise in cases, rehabilitation centers and 12-step clubs have had to take special care to ensure the safety of clients and visitors. Many of the meetings at the Crossroads Club are still being held virtually, but the ones that meet in-person are required to adhere to strict social distancing and mask protocols. At Harmony Healing Center, Matt Byrne says that they have had to bring in fewer outside facilitators for group therapy to reduce the risk of an outbreak. Jared Kirschner states that at the Retreat in Broward they are still enforcing social distancing and masks but have had to become more mindful about patients coming from out of state. These measures are being taken to ensure that addicts are still receiving the help that they need while also being aware of the threat still posed by COVID-19.

Despite this new surge in cases, the recovery community in Delray Beach has been able to heal some of the wounds inflicted by the instability of the past few months. With businesses and 12-step clubs reopening, recovering addicts have been able to once again take part in their fellowships and begin the slow return to normalcy after months of isolation and despair.