Project HOMES: Houston recovery homes help residents remain drug-free
HOUSTON - A local mother is back with her daughter after working hard to overcome drug addiction.
Project HOMES is a saving grace for Sarah Saidock, drug-free more than three years. She is benefitting from one of the country's largest research projects through The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and the Health and Human Services Commission’s Texas Targeted Opioid Response Program (TTOR).
They're offering four "Houses of Extra Measures", which are recovery homes in Houston to help adults who want to become and remain drug-free. More homes are available across the state of Texas, for anyone looking to relocate.
"That helped change my life, to have a set of principles that I live by today, to have guidelines to living that was very, very helpful because before I just felt like I was floating free, not really having a future, not really having a purpose, not really knowing kind of what to do with life, just kind of floating through life, making horrible decisions. So once I found out there was a better way to live, because I knew my way of living wasn't good anymore, it was very helpful," states Sarah.
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Sarah says she started experimenting with drugs in college and it spiraled from there.
"I was using Adderall throughout my last semester of college. I was getting my bachelor's degree for social work and that last semester, there was a lot going on. I had anxiety and depression and wasn't treating either one of them, and then the Adderall obviously made it worse. I had to go on medical leave from school, which made me feel like my life had no purpose, and then my problem escalated to using opiates. I started with narcos and hydrocodone and then progressed to oxycontin. Then at the very end, it was actually fentanyl and I didn't even know I was using fentanyl, until I went to detox. I was using straight fentanyl and mixing it with cocaine," explains Sarah.
She got pregnant but didn't know how to reach out for help and was able to quit abusing drugs on her own to help protect her unborn child. It wasn't easy, to say the least.
"Opiate withdrawals are probably the worst ever: cold sweats, shivers, stomach knots, constipation, vomiting, nausea, it's like having the flu but times 1,000," explains Sarah.
She was beyond relieved when her baby was born healthy, but after about a year, Sarah says she slipped into drug abuse again and lost custody of her beloved daughter.
"Most people dream of being this, that, or the other thing, and the one thing I really knew I wanted to be when I grew up was a mom and I thought that that would be enough just being a mom to not go back and unfortunately, it wasn't. The drugs are stronger than any love that you could ever have for your children or anything unfortunately," says Sarah.
That's when Sarah was referred to UTHealth's program and lived in one of the recovery homes for months.
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Dr. Michael Wilkerson with UTHealth Houston School of Public Health is a Co-Investigator in the study and has been working with similar programs in other states. He closely studies how to make these homes function properly to offer the highest success rate of recovery.
"It's really a beautiful model because it's based off of this idea of social support. So, you know, I know that when we feel safe, with those people with whom we're living with, or with whom we're friends with, then we're going to thrive, right? And so the idea of these homes, is to create a safe space where you're living with other people, focused on the same goals, working together, cheering each other on, supporting each other when there's a struggle, right. That's the magic of the homes," states Dr. Wilkerson.
Dr. Wilkerson says sober living environments show to have a high rate of recovery, when combined with a 12-step program that is medically-assisted. That means residents are prescribed medication to prevent withdrawal symptoms and curbs cravings in the brain, liked to altered neurochemistry.
"The way someone gets into the home is, as long as they're over the age of 18, have a prescription for a medication, are committed to their own recovery. And then they have an interview with the house manager. If that house manager feels they're a good fit for the home, they're invited into that home," says Dr Wilkerson.
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They're still trying to figure out the ideal timing of how long the residents should live in the recovery centers.
"That is one of the questions that we're hoping to answer. The available data that's been published out of DePaul University suggests that the minimum time that someone should be in a home to get the maximum benefit is six months, some benefits begin to improve after three. But really, after six months is when you start to see the maximum benefit. Longer is the general philosophy that the longer, the better. We know that when someone takes a medication, they want to be on that medication for a minimum of one year," states Dr. Wilkerson.
While the goal of the recovery homes is to provide a safe and supportive environment for everyone, they vary depending on level. Level II residences are monitored homes with a house manager and the groups are run by peers, while a facility manager supervises the level III residences. The services in these homes often offer a life skills curriculum for residents. It sure worked for Sarah! She completed her college degree and now works at one of the homes to help pay it forward. She also regained custody of her daughter and is thrilled to be pregnant again.
For more information: https://sph.uth.edu/research/centers/chppr/research/homes