Reentry Initiative celebrates two-year funding from health foundation

The Reentry Initiative was recently awarded a two-year grant of $175,000 by The Colorado Health Foundation to support non-clinical recovery programming within the Longmont based Wellness Center.

The grant funds will support Boulder County community members on parole and probation as they return to self-sufficiency.

The Reentry Initiative (TRI) provides comprehensive services inside and outside prison walls that empower adults to live fulfilling and crime-free lives within the community. Addressing mental and behavioral health for returning citizens is key to their long-term success in the community, according to a news release.

This program aims to offer out-of-the-box recovery interventions that are customized to each client’s unique needs, starting with the assessment.

“We find that, when we take the time to get to know each member of our program as an individual with unique strengths and needs,” said program manager of The Reentry Initiative’s Wellness Center Katya Slivinskaya. “Their motivation to recover sets in sooner and is more likely to be sustained over time. The key is creating a sense of community that sees and values each individual member.”

This is aligned with recent research on addiction recovery, which emphasizes the importance of connection. For TRI’s members, sustained recovery means constructive, crime-free lives in the community - not just surviving crime-free, but thriving.

“The Reentry Initiative is honored and grateful to receive this grant award and put it towards continuing to expand holistic recovery and prevention programming for our community members on probation and parole,” said Slivinskaya.

TRI’s holistic recovery model is aligned with Colorado’s diversion court’s model of “Recovery Capital,” informed by cutting edge research on addiction recovery, and goes beyond being person-centered, to being whole-person-centered. 

Funding from The Foundation will be invested in TRI’s peer support specialists and lead members, who are so vital to the glue of the community. When clients feel that every area of their life matters, is valued and treated as important by staff, recovery and prevention are expedited and enhanced. The program will build upon success from 2023 by supporting clients’ unique needs by covering medical fees, costs for moving into sober living, scholarships for complementary medicine and education/vocational programs, while also regularly covering a suite of pro-social activities including dance, Rec Center memberships, and athletic leagues.

“At The Reentry Initiative, we are seeing firsthand the urgent need to approach recovery holistically,” said Emily Kleeman, Executive Director. “Community is a key pillar of this approach. We believe that the continued enhancement of our holistic recovery program will significantly bolster constructive engagement in the broader community, and prevention of criminal behavior, justice involvement and recidivism. Our community is only as strong as the weakest link, we are working to stitch together the holes that people fall through.”