Treatment Center Participates in Release Recovery Scholarship Fund
Canaan, CT – This National Substance Abuse Prevention Month, Mountainside Treatment Center is partnering with Release Recovery Foundation to provide scholarships to women battling substance use disorders. The aim of these scholarships is to offer life-saving inpatient treatment services to individuals struggling with alcohol and drug addiction who are not able to afford medical and clinical care otherwise.
Release Recovery Foundation, co-founded by “Bachelorette Season 16” winner Zac Clark and Justin Gurland, is a nonprofit dedicated to ensuring all who are ready and willing to seek professional treatment are able, despite the financial barriers they may face. There is no better time to launch this partnership than National Substance Abuse Prevention Month, which aims to raise awareness of the impact of substance use disorders.
Unfortunately, women face additional barriers – both emotional and societal – to seeking treatment. Childcare challenges, the high cultural standards placed on women as caregivers, and the stigma of addiction can all contribute to a perfect storm in which women feel they cannot leave home to address their substance use disorder. This Release Recovery Foundation Scholarship was created to help women overcome these obstacles and embrace their own healing.
“Everyone has been impacted by COVID-19, but shortly after the pandemic began, we saw a noticeable decrease in women enrolling in detox and residential treatment,” says Andre Basso, Chief Executive Officer at Mountainside. “No one should have to sacrifice their own healing, for financial reasons or otherwise. We are eager to team up with Release Recovery to continue raising the bar in treatment by making services more available to women, who are oftentimes the backbone of families and communities.”
For many women without an alcohol use disorder, COVID-19 stressors have intensified their drinking during the pandemic. A September 2020 study by RAND Corporation showed that heavy alcohol consumption among female drinkers increased 41 percent from 2019 to 2020. Couple this with the 30 percent surge in drug overdose deaths last year, and widespread support has never been more urgently needed.
The Release Recovery Foundation Scholarship will cover inpatient stays in Mountainside’s Detox and Residential programs. The treatment center will provide a 24-hour, medically monitored detox, plus a 35-day treatment program focused on holistic wellness, to help women better understand the roots of their addiction and develop healthy coping strategies moving forward. To receive a scholarship, individuals must demonstrate a medical and financial need, along with a desire to take the next step in their recovery.
“Our hope is to encourage people to reclaim their lives in treatment and inspire them to give back to the world around them,” says Clark. “We are eager to partner with Mountainside to deliver quality, holistic care to those in need while raising awareness about the many benefits of recovery.”
The Release Recovery Foundation was formed by Clark and Gurland at the start of the pandemic as a branch of Release Recovery, a full-service recovery organization located in New York dedicated to helping clients build a strong foundation in early recovery. All proceeds from the scholarship fund will go directly toward client care. Together, Release Recovery and Mountainside will optimize individuals’ first year in treatment – the most crucial period for sustained sobriety.
For more information about the Release Recovery Foundation Scholarship, please email connect@releaserecovery.com.
