What Does Stonegate Center’s Alumni Program Look Like?

At Stonegate we value aftercare. From the moment our clients walk in our doors, we treat them as if they’re family because we know the importance of community in recovery and how it impacts long-term sobriety. We care not only about what happens in our treatment facility, but also what happens after.

That means the relationships we build with our clients don’t end when they leave. Our hope is that they’d continue for a lifetime.

If I had to name the most important part of the treatment process, from start to finish, I would say it’s aftercare and having a strong continuum of support for alumni.

Don’t get me wrong, receiving inpatient treatment is a crucial first step. However, the rubber meets the road when a client leaves the security and comfort of an inpatient substance abuse treatment facility and enters back into life.

This can be a very stressful time because all the new tools they’ve received in treatment are about to be tested. But this is what our clients have worked for the past 45 to 90 days. No, let me rephrase… This is what we’ve worked for as a team, every single day our clients are on our campus.

That’s why I love being an alumni coordinator at Stonegate Center. I have the privilege of joining alongside our clients while they journey into the next phase of their development. From the first week in treatment, I let each client know I’m their advocate and there to help them.

I like sharing my experience, strength, and hope with each client so they can relate to my former struggles with addiction and build repour amongst them. I lay out every way that I’m going to be there for them, that way they know what to expect and that they aren’t alone.

What Does Stonegate Center’s Alumni Program Entail?

We have a very comprehensive alumni program at Stonegate Center. We try to engage our alumni in a variety of ways. Monthly meetings and quarterly regional activities allow us to engage with our alumni on a regular basis. These regular meetups help us maintain relationships withour alumni, helps us offer resources and recovery support for them, and allows us to stay up to date on the progress of their recovery programs.

Every month, we host alumni meetings in different cities across Oklahoma and Texas to meet up with alumni in the two regions. For out-of-state alumni, we host virtual meetings. During these alumni meetings, our alumni check in with the progress their making in their 12-Step programs.

This gives me and other alumni an opportunity to encourage, support and hold them accountable. This also helps them to build upon the bonds they formed while in treatment. This is just one of the ways our meetings help them continue building relationships even after they’ve left treatment.

While our meetings can often be on serious topics, we also want to teach our alumni how to have fun in a different context than what they might have been used to in the past. Every quarter, we host alumni events or activities to get our alumni together for some wholesome fun. The alumni events we have had in the past include paintballing, bowling, lake outings, and Topgolf.

“I’m really grateful for and feel fortunate to be a part of Stonegate Center’s alumni program. Whether it’s a social event, a service opportunity , or a meeting, the program provides an opportunity for me to get together with like-minded men in recovery to receive support, accountability, and fellowship. There is also a great opportunity to interact with and encourage other alumni that live all across the United States through their presence on social media!”
-Quote from David D., Stonegate Center alum

We also have our Annual Crawfish Boil, our largest alumni meeting of the year. We’ve found that for those who consistently attend, the events help foster camaraderie and a sense of brotherhood among our alumni, therefore aiding in the recovery community they are trying to build in their new sober life.

Outside of meetings and events, as the alumni coordinator, I make regular calls to check-in with our alumni. Typically, we check-in with alumni four times in the first year after treatment: 1 week, 3 months, 6 months, and a year. We also give them regular calls inviting them to monthly meetings and events. There is never a shortage of contact.

Moreover, our team encourages Stonegate Center alumni to reach out to us on a regular basis if they need anything or any support. Our alumni also have the opportunity to visit our campus to share their experience, strength and hope with other clients.

We have seen how this has a huge impact on the guys that are currently in treatment. They get the opportunity to hear what it looks like to implement the 12-steps and a relationship with God into their lives after treatment

Originally published at https://stonegatecenter.com on April 9, 2020.