to Serve those Battling Homelessness and Substance Abuse
A new Recovery Café located in Orting Valley will be opening in the summer of 2018 to provide a community of support for individuals who have been traumatized by homelessness, addiction and other mental health challenges. Recovery Café Orting Valley will help people beginning with a foundation of peer support plus a myriad of services to help them understand the resources available to them that can be difficult to navigate. It will also provide a strong network of support for individuals experiencing similar challenges.
“I am thrilled to be extending the valuable services and supports of a Recovery Café to the Orting Valley,” said Dennis Paschke, executive director of Recovery Café Orting Valley. “As the homeless population is increasingly displaced to Orting from the Seattle and Tacoma areas, the need to address the full array of socioeconomic, physical health and behavioral health needs of this population is critical.”
Recovery Cafés in other areas have been extremely successful in helping their members on their recovery journey. At the original Recovery Café in Seattle, in their last annual report 90% of members reported Recovery Café helped them find recovery and 95% reported Recovery Café helped them maintain their sobriety. Recovery Café in Seattle has been open for over 14 years, serving members of the community.
Molina Healthcare of Washington provided seed funding to help the Recovery Café project in Orting get started, and will remain closely involved to connect Recovery Café clients to health care resources. Additionally, Carrie Ching, who is a community engagement specialist for Molina Healthcare of Washington serves on the Recovery Café Orting Valley board of directors. As the largest health plan serving Medicaid members in Washington, Molina has undertaken a number of initiatives to address addiction among its members. The opioid epidemic in particular has impacted Medicaid beneficiaries at a disproportionately high rate according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid services (CMS).
“Molina sees firsthand every day the devastating impact that addiction and homelessness can have on someone’s ability to manage their basic health care needs,” said Jorge Rivera, director of community engagement for Molina Healthcare of Washington. “We are grateful for strong partners like the Recovery Café that help us do a better job improving health outcomes in the community.”
Recovery Café Orting Valley will be located at 109 Train Street SE in Orting and is expected to open in late summer of 2018 to begin serving the community.
