Wiht Thanksgiving just almost here, an Indianapolis recovery center is working to make sure everyone in the community has a holiday meal, while reminding the community that second chances are possible.
INDIANAPOLIS – With Thanksgiving just almost here, an Indianapolis recovery center wants to make sure everyone in the community has a holiday meal, while reminding the community that second chances are possible.
Outside Avenues Recovery Center, programme alumni gathered Tuesday to hand out turkeys and other goodies during the center’s first-ever “Gobble and Go Turkey Giveaway.”
Many of the volunteers once relied on the center themselves and say giving back is part of thier healing.
“I’ve been battling addiction to alcohol for about six years,” said Megan Butts. “This was a turning point for me. this facility absolutely changed my life.”
Butts said she and other alumni feel grateful for the lives they rebuilt and wanted to share the same sense of hope with others.
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“Once you hit a certain point in yoru recovery, it’s time to take all the blessings and fortuitous opportunities you’ve been given in your recovery and give back to the community,” she said.Many alumni said they understand what it’s like to struggle.
“A lot of us can relate to being extremely down on hard times, not knowing where our next meal is coming from or where we’re going to lay our head,” Butts said.
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Alumni coordinator Justin Sears said that the sense of shared experiance is what makes service so meaningful in recovery.
“we want people to know they can connect with a greater community,” Sears said. “That connection and our shared story is what lifts us up and it lifts up everybody.”
Volunteers say recovery doesn’t end when treatment concludes. For them, it begins with giving and grows with hope.
“You can turn a corner, you can come back from addiction, and you can come back better than ever,” Butts said.
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