The first step to individual recovery is admitting that you have a problem. However, for the organization that helps people shed their dependencies on drugs and alcohol couldn’t immediately overcome the problem that kept them closed: the COVID-19 pandemic.

The good news is that Mosaic Place in Cedartown has been able to outlast the coronavirus, and is now opened back up for group work after spending the past months working with individuals online. See their Facebook page for hours and information about upcoming meetings.

Lydia Goodson, Program Manager for Mosaic Place, said that the time has finally arrived for the organization to get back to the work of helping people who are seeking help overcome addiction and get their lives back in order, and is open six days a week for those who need the aid. Services include workforce development, recovery coaching, support meetings, helping clients get on a budget and find additional resources in the community that can help.

One of the most parts of Mosaic Place’s program for recovery is the social connections that individuals get from being together in overcoming their addictions.

“Recovery stays strong in times of crisis. We are built for this,” Goodson said. “That doesn’t mean that we do not have setbacks. What that means is that we can keep moving forward. That’s the key to recovery the bounce back. Our stories are always evolving, with lots of commas and no periods.”

Goodson explained that during the past months of the shutdown of the offices in Cedartown, Mosaic Place went online with their services.

“During COVID we switched to a virtual platform. Now we are back and stronger than ever,” Goodson said. “Fostering social connection while practicing physical distancing.”

She added that during the shutdown, some sessions were able to gather in local parks and keep up social distancing to foster the connections needed even during times of global crisis for those who are struggling to overcome their addictions.

“We have seen an increased need for peer recovery support in the past few months,” she said.

Goodson said for individuals who do want to return to a group setting, screening practices are being undertaken at the door to ensure that guidelines from local, state and federal agencies are being followed now that their doors are back open. She asks anyone who may feel sick to stay home.

An additional way that Mosaic Place is helping to save lives in the community is by offering Narcan training and distribution to those who want to help ensure overdoses don’t end lives before they have a chance to reach recovery, as well as harm reduction education surrounding addiction in the community.

“We embrace all pathways to recovery. We serve the community knowing that recovery is the expectation,” she said. “We also need need our community to continue to embrace us, educate themselves about the impact addiction has on individual lives and and above all else share, share, share the news that Mosaic Place is back open and here to help.”

“Word of mouth is the roots of communication in rural communities. Sometimes we might be on the same page of an issue and sometimes not. Stigma surrounding addiction is a huge bump in the road. We just seek the communities help to allow us to serve those in need,” Goodson added.