Berea Residents Now have access to 24/7 Peer Support

Berea Residents Now have access to 24/7 Peer Support

The Berea Police Department, whom started the The Safe Passages opioid and drug addiction intervention initiative, signed a contract with Sober Grid to provide peer support to approximately 50 individuals. The contract allows the police department to give peer coaching to anyone who walks into a fire or police station in Berea. Sober Grid, the most popular addiction addiction recovery application, launched a service in 2018 that provides 24/7/365 Certified Peer Coaching.

Peer Coaches can help those in recovery by sharing their lived experience, offering support, and helping with resources like healthcare, and jobs. Each recovery coach has received supervised training and are certified through state mental health organizations.

“Peer support will be a value added resource to the Berea Safe Passages team. Peer supporters build instant trust and are effective in helping peers see the benefits of treatment” Brian Bailys, a member of the Sober Grid’s executive team said.

The Safe Passages program was developed because the Police department saw that simply arresting people who needed help with addiction wasn’t working. Instead of putting someone behind bars for an addiction, they wanted to be a resource that is available to anyone that walks in the door and asks for help. Now Sober Grid is offering certified peer coaches to make a larger impact.

Research on peer support suggests that it can have positive impacts on recovery and is supported by SAMSHA. Sober Grid Serves a number of government healthcare organizations and serves thousands of people with state certified peer support specialists. Sober Grid has also signed a contract with the Clermont county ADAHMS Board, Logan/Champagne County, and is in talks with other organizations throughout the country.

“We are really excited about the opportunity to serve Berea and support the Safe Passages initiative. Every community we are able to support brings us closer to our goal of providing anyone, anywhere, with the addiction support they need.” Beau Mann, Founder and CEO of Sober Grid explained.

Sober Grid is based in Cleveland and is also the largest mobile recovery platform with over 150,000 registered users