When you walk through the door to explore CRUSH of Iowa’s Recovery Community Center (RCC), located in the heart of Cedar Rapids, one of the first questions you may hear is, “What does recovery look like to you?” Built on the foundational belief that there are multiple pathways to recovery, CRUSH of Iowa opened its doors in June of 2022, with support from a grant awarded to peer-run organizations by the Iowa Health and Human Services (Iowa HHS), in conjunction with the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration.
Rod and Deb Courtney founded CRUSH of Iowa in 2016 after losing their son, Chad, to fentanyl poisoning. During this time, the Courtneys say they experienced the power of the peer-centered approach, reinforced by the importance of community and connection. In early 2019, Rod participated in the Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery (CCAR) Recovery Coach Academy offered through Iowa HHS. Rod says, “I literally came home from that training and I told Debbie, I said, I want to open up a recovery community.”
Today, CRUSH’s RCC is a safe place for individuals in the recovery community to meet and share hope with each other, as well as with their families and friends. The focus is to provide support, resources, and connections for all individuals whose lives have been affected by any type of substance use.
The Courtneys and other recovery coaches (RCs) within the organization continue to hear positive comments when people visit the center. Rod says, “We started seeing the power of peer recovery coaching when people come to the door and say things like, “‘It’s comfortable here.’ ‘I feel welcomed here.’, ‘I don’t feel judged.’”
Dozens of employees and volunteers with CRUSH have become trained RCs by completing CCAR’s Academy.* Deb Courtney explains how the person-centered, strengths-based philosophy is embedded within the organization’s culture: “One of the things we do here is everybody has a voice.” Rod reinforces their value of everyone working together, “We just want to collaborate. I mean, you know, we’re not clinicians, but we understand the importance of clinicians.”
Some clinicians in Cedar Rapids are affirming the importance of the recovery coach profession as word of the Center’s success continues to spread throughout Eastern Iowa. A collaboration, started earlier this year with Cedar Rapids Mercy Hospital’s emergency department, is an example of how CRUSH of Iowa is facilitating change. ER staff now hand out CRUSH of Iowa pamphlets to some patients and can ask if they would like the opportunity to visit with an RC while in the emergency room. When a patient decides they want to talk with someone, one of the many RCs specially trained through CCAR’s Recovery Coaching in the Emergency Department* is dispatched to the hospital to connect with the person.
CRUSH of Iowa staff consistently, and effectively, continue reaching out and expanding their recovery services beyond the walls of the recovery center. The benefits of this outreach include enhancing awareness, reducing stigma, and facilitating connections to recovery. CRUSH stands for Community Resources United to Spread Hope. And that’s what the RCs from CRUSH of Iowa are doing—spreading hope.
The CRUSH Recovery Community Center is located at 317 7th Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52401. For more information about the organization and a calendar of meetings and events, please visit their website, CRUSH of Iowa.
*Training is offered at no cost through the IPWC, which is funded by a grant from Iowa HHS to the University of Iowa National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice (UI-NRC).