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Leslie Fox: We Do Recovery center offers peer-led support and community events in Cape Girardeau
Summary
Leslie Fox of We Do Recovery told Cape Chronicle the downtown Cape Girardeau recovery community center offers open, peer-led meetings, social activities and referrals to treatment partners; the center is funded by the Department of Mental Health and posts daily schedules on social media.
Leslie Fox, a representative of We Do Recovery, said the downtown Cape Girardeau recovery community center provides peer-led support, open meetings and referrals to treatment providers.
Fox told Cape Chronicle that “We Do Recovery is a… recovery community center” opened four years ago under the Gibson Center for Behavioral Change and funded by the Department of Mental Health, and that it serves as “a brick and mortar place for anybody to come to find any walk of recovery.”
The center offers multiple daily programs aimed at building social supports and reducing isolation, Fox said. Typical offerings include a relationships-and-recovery group, an “all recovery” topic meeting and evening 12-step meetings. She described the atmosphere as family-oriented, with couches, a coffee bar and snacks to encourage people to spend time and connect.
“Addiction is an isolating disease,” Fox said. “And so the opposite of that is community, and we know that from research.” She said all staff at the recovery community centers are certified peer specialists—people with lived experience who provide peer support rather than clinical treatment.
Fox also emphasized partnerships with local providers. She said We Do Recovery was started under the Gibson Center for Behavioral Change and that the Gibson-run behavioral health crisis center is a referral option for people who need crisis services or detox; the center also partners with other local treatment providers and sober-living houses such as Boss Life.
The program accepts walk-ins and holds open meetings; Fox said attendees are asked to sign in at the door so staff can learn what help they need but that the center does not impose formal requirements for participation. She encouraged people who lack the confidence to walk in to call or message the center on Facebook. Fox gave a contact phone number of 573-803-0234 and said the organization maintains a Facebook page called “Cape Girardeau We Do Recovery Community Center” with daily calendars and videos.
Fox said the organization operates in multiple communities, including a We Do Recovery center in Sikeston, and hosts annual community events such as an overdose awareness event in August and a recovery fest in September that gathers agencies and people in recovery.
The interview concluded after about 12 minutes with the host thanking Fox for sharing information about programs, partnerships and how people can access services.
