Options Recovery
In 2022, as St. Timothy’s celebrated our 25 years of Outreach Ministry support, Options Recovery Services also celebrated 25 years of service, focusing on the following mission, goal, and vision: Our missions is to break the cycle of addiction which causes homelessness, crime and broken families. We believe that to be successful, services must be open to anyone and immediately available. We also believe that treatment for alcohol and drug dependency is a human right, regardless of the ability to pay.
Our goal is to implement and promote an inner-city model for comprehensive addiction treatment and clean and sober living for a lifetime that can be replicated in other inner-city communities. Our vision is that one day, society will deal effectively and compassionately with addiction and recovery. Every drug dependent person will have easy and immediate access to addiction treatment and recovery support services with a resultant decrease in crime, homelessness and family dysfunction. Please, check out the Options’ website at www.optionsrecoveryservices.com to see the miracles Options produces in community. |
Other dates to learn about the miracles of Options include:
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Since that time, Patti has been the “go to” for staff at Options, for items needed for transitional houses and/or individual clients. Frances and Patti have shopped for screen doors, underwear, pregnancy clothes….you name it, Patti finds it. Options has been the recipient of Outreach funds from FOTH since 2000, and, in return, Options has always provided people to deliver sermons and workshops to educate our congregation about addiction
and recovery.
Options now has recovery centers in Berkeley, San Leandro, West Oakland, and Concord, with a center soon to open in Richmond, providing state of the art services for addicts. In 2006, a group of inmates from San Quention asked Options to train them, lifers, who at that time, would never get out of prison, to be certified Drug and Alcohol Counselors. By 2008, the State of California’s Department of Correction of Rehabilitation, e.g. the state prison
system, asked Options to provide that program in California prisons. To date, Options has trained 1000 counselors, many of whom provide alcohol and drug treatment in all California prisons.
In addition, the program, called the Offender Mentor Certification Program(OMCP), is now in 9 California prisons. Many of the men and women who complete this program, not only heal from the trauma in their lives, but become Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselors, who are granted parole, and
work outside of prison. I retired in December of 2020, and, at that time, many, if not most, of the Options’ counselors, were from the OMCP Program.
These counselors have been described as “the best drug and alcohol counselors on the planet,” which I can tell you, is true. I continue to meet, once a week, with men, as they come out of prison, and, they are so grateful to be out and able to “give back.”
In 2022 a documentary was made, entitled “The 50.” If you go to the50film.com, you can get on an email list to be notified about the next showing in a film festival. I have watched this film 7 times, and, each time, I am more and more inspired by the journey of the first class of OMCP, in 2009. The last showing, I watched with Gabel, who is the Vestry representative for Social Justice and Outreach. When the film becomes available, we will definitely show it to our community, since it demonstrates that recovery and redemption is for all of us.
Beyond the generosity of St. Timothy’s, in terms of goods and services, the prayer support we provide for all of our Outreach ministries, like the “mustard seed,” while small, turns our supported ministries into giant trees of growth and miracles. As a community, we are known as an “outreach church.” Before many of us aged out, St. Timothy’s used to prepare a meal for Options’ staff and clients. Leslie Firth provided the direction for preparation of shepherd’s pie, which we delivered to and served to, at least 200 people at Options’ downtown Berkeley site. As the people at Options said about St. Timothy’s, “Now that is a church.”
We have been known by our love and service, and it has continued to make a difference for so many people. If you are curious as to how you can become involved simply go to the website at www.optionsrecoveryservices.com or call Options at 510 666-9552, and ask for Porter, the Director of
Development, or Barbara, for ways you can help. And thank you, St. Timothy’s, for your faithful and loving service.
Peg M and Patti F, liaisons for Options Recovery Services
and recovery.
Options now has recovery centers in Berkeley, San Leandro, West Oakland, and Concord, with a center soon to open in Richmond, providing state of the art services for addicts. In 2006, a group of inmates from San Quention asked Options to train them, lifers, who at that time, would never get out of prison, to be certified Drug and Alcohol Counselors. By 2008, the State of California’s Department of Correction of Rehabilitation, e.g. the state prison
system, asked Options to provide that program in California prisons. To date, Options has trained 1000 counselors, many of whom provide alcohol and drug treatment in all California prisons.
In addition, the program, called the Offender Mentor Certification Program(OMCP), is now in 9 California prisons. Many of the men and women who complete this program, not only heal from the trauma in their lives, but become Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselors, who are granted parole, and
work outside of prison. I retired in December of 2020, and, at that time, many, if not most, of the Options’ counselors, were from the OMCP Program.
These counselors have been described as “the best drug and alcohol counselors on the planet,” which I can tell you, is true. I continue to meet, once a week, with men, as they come out of prison, and, they are so grateful to be out and able to “give back.”
In 2022 a documentary was made, entitled “The 50.” If you go to the50film.com, you can get on an email list to be notified about the next showing in a film festival. I have watched this film 7 times, and, each time, I am more and more inspired by the journey of the first class of OMCP, in 2009. The last showing, I watched with Gabel, who is the Vestry representative for Social Justice and Outreach. When the film becomes available, we will definitely show it to our community, since it demonstrates that recovery and redemption is for all of us.
Beyond the generosity of St. Timothy’s, in terms of goods and services, the prayer support we provide for all of our Outreach ministries, like the “mustard seed,” while small, turns our supported ministries into giant trees of growth and miracles. As a community, we are known as an “outreach church.” Before many of us aged out, St. Timothy’s used to prepare a meal for Options’ staff and clients. Leslie Firth provided the direction for preparation of shepherd’s pie, which we delivered to and served to, at least 200 people at Options’ downtown Berkeley site. As the people at Options said about St. Timothy’s, “Now that is a church.”
We have been known by our love and service, and it has continued to make a difference for so many people. If you are curious as to how you can become involved simply go to the website at www.optionsrecoveryservices.com or call Options at 510 666-9552, and ask for Porter, the Director of
Development, or Barbara, for ways you can help. And thank you, St. Timothy’s, for your faithful and loving service.
Peg M and Patti F, liaisons for Options Recovery Services