Ignite Hope Provides Program for Long-Term Recovery After Opioid Addiction

Chicago, IL, December 13, 2017 (Newswire.com) - ​​​The current opioid crisis gripping American cities is killing 90 Americans every day. It’s not just affecting major cities but all across the country from rural communities in the heartland to suburban communities on the West Coast to New England. It’s been reported that it’s the deadliest drug crisis in American history. In Oct., President Trump directed the Department of Health and Human Services to declare the opioid crisis a public health emergency but didn’t divert any funding to help end the crisis. Government figures estimate that some 64,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2016 alone.

A New York Times article notes that drug overdoses are expected to remain the leading cause of death for Americans under 50. Opioids, primarily heroin, fentanyl and fentanyl analogues, are expected to continue to push the death count higher. Drug deaths involving fentanyl rose 540 percent in just three years.

CEO of Ignite Hope, Kate Schneider, LPC, has seen this rise first-hand in her nonprofit that provides a program based on physical exercise and volunteering as a way to help young adults aged 16 to 25 achieve and maintain sobriety. Schneider isn’t alone. Addiction and recovery programs across the country are seeing more and more people seeking treatment for opioid addiction. The challenge for addicts is what happens when treatment ends. Relapse is always a risk for those in recovery.

“Relapsing has really been a challenge for many people in recovery, especially youth,” says Schneider, who also operates her own private counseling practice in addition to founding Ignite Hope. “I’ve heard from the youth we work with, in my practice, and from my community partners that boredom can be a big pre-cursor to relapse. People need something productive to do with their time as well as new positive social circles and ways to improve self-esteem.”

Knowing these factors, as well as how physical exercise can positively effect emotions, Ignite Hope’s program addresses the need for structure, accountability, and a chance to create new social groups in their program. Ignite Hope works with young adults who are already engaged in an out-patient treatment program or are working with an addiction therapist. Ignite Hope’s program works to both enhance these therapeutic efforts and provide the additional supports youth need to aid in their long-term recovery.

It does this by empowering youth to get fit and give-back to their community. Through strategic partnerships formed with both fitness facilities and other nonprofits, Ignite Hope provides youth with free monthly membership passes in exchange for volunteering once a month. After being in the program for a year, youth are eligible for a scholarship awarded by the organization’s board of directors.

“Engaging youth in more positive activities has been the key in helping them to succeed in recovery,” adds Schneider. “Youth are able to reap the positive health and well-being benefits of exercise. The volunteer opportunities help connect youth in a more productive way to their communities, gives them something to do, and helps them begin to develop new social activities and connections.”

The program has been successful is helping youth make that transition from treatment to more long-term recovery. Ignite Hope is primarily operated through donations. To learn more about the organization, their program, and to help support youth, visit Ignite-Hope.org.

About Ignite Hope

Ignite Hope is a nonprofit organization based in Arlington Height, Illinois that provides a program based on physical exercise and volunteering as a way to help young adults aged 16 to 25 achieve and maintain sobriety. For more information, visit Ignite-Hope.org.

Media Contact / Media Interviews

Kate Schneider, CEO Ignite Hope
Phone: 847-630-2255
​Email: info@ignite-hope.org

Source: Ignite Hope