REAL LIFE Community Center Announcement
After months of planning and looking, we are so excited to announce that we finally have a building for our Community Center! It was tough, and frustrating at times, but with our great realtor, Laikyn Severson of Joyner Realty, lots of internet searches, visiting several buildings, and submitting a few offers, the perfect location was found and the lease was signed exactly one week ago!
In the heart of downtown and on the bus line, 406 East Main Street, is the location of Richmond’s newest resource for those who battle the disease of addiction – the REAL LIFE Community Center!
The dire necessity for this sort of service in this part of town was apparent! While opening a center wasn’t in REAL LIFE’s short term plan, we are an organization that steps up to answer the needs in our community. There is no time to waste when dealing with those who battle the disease of addiction – every second counts, and life or death is often at the forefront. With the lack of a one-stop-shop for individuals exiting incarceration or attempting to overcome their addiction in this part of town, we constantly were seeing the stumbling blocks individuals were facing. We were receiving countless phone calls of those seeking help, but who were not able to obtain it. There just isn’t a resource that provides the basic fundamentals, intense job preparation and technical training, behavior modification and trauma informed care, and how to interact with the community, while also offering faith and spiritual components. REAL LIFE answered and is proud to be able to do so, through partnership with the Wheless Family Stewardship Trust.
The Center will offer intensive case-management that provide each client with an individualized success plan that will be derived from a criminogenic risk assessment. The assessment will identify areas most highly associated with their potential to recidivate and relapse. Meetings, classes, and other appointments will be accented by other offerings, such as a computer lab and clothes closet, in order to provide clients services in the holistic manner needed for them to achieve a thriving life. It is the idea of recovering to something greater than what was lost.