Steps to Recovery, a drug addiction rehabilitation and recovery nonprofit, recently purchased the two-story commercial Rough Cut building and plans on moving its offices and operations to the site in the months to come.
Steps to Recovery Homes Founder and CEO Damien Browning was a “mason for 14 years and a drug addict” before forming the organization with his former wife, Ann.
“We were both in recovery,” he said. “Nine years ago, we started [the business] with three credit cards, to help people in addiction.”
Since then, the nonprofit grew to include three recovery homes — one for men, one for women and one transitional home.
Additionally Browning and his team, most of whom are graduates of the Steps program, have operated the Miracles Happen ReSale Store and furniture refurbishing project as well as an eBay store to help cover the costs of staffing.
“We were working so hard at just getting items and selling items and making [them] look nice, just to keep our staff so we could help the clients,” Browning said.
“The resale store wasn’t bringing in enough money to hire more staff, and it was so much work,” he said.
Eventually, the team got together to discuss solutions, and came up with a new strategic plan, which was a “paradigm shift” in terms of generating more income and expanding services.
The strategic plan enabled the team to pursue multiple grants, acquire additional licensing, and as of two months ago, purchase the two-story Rough Cut multiplex located on North Main Street in Cottonwood, which Browning said is actually more affordable than operating the nonprofit in separate locations.
The city of Cottonwood plans to move many of its offices to the southern Rough Cut building.
Browning explained that part of the strategic plan was to shift the focus from the store as the main source of revenue to pursuing grants through the company’s Intensive Outpatient Program.
The IOP is a treatment program used to address addictions, depression, eating disorders or other dependencies that do not require around-the-clock supervision.
The program will essentially be at the center of the multiplex, and clients can come to the office for therapy, career counseling and more.
The IOP “will enable us to not just help people already in our program, but actually give therapy to people outside of our program,” Browning said.
Beyond the IOP office, the resale store and furniture refurbishing program will reopen in an adjacent space. Browning said there are also plans to convert the 6,000 square-foot upper loft into a mixed-use area, potentially including a biophilic space for practicing yoga and meditation in addition to office spaces for his executive team.
There will also be a COVID-19 testing site located in the space.
Currently, Browning is looking for staff, including a clinical director, therapist and behavioral health technician.
Browning said that right now, he is “having a hard time” finding staff, but hopes that soon, the word will spread through the community and the company will be able to start seeing clients again.
“We just got our state license, and we hope to be up and running by June,” he said. “I’ve talked to a lot of people and they say just to get a business really up and going, [it takes] five years — but really ten to 15 years to really sustain itself. So, its been nine years and I think we’re on our way.”
To learn more about Steps to Recovery Homes, visit stepstorecoveryhomes.org.
