Tag: recovery engagement center

Expressive Melodies: Songwriting Workshop

Join us for Expressive Melodies, an engaging songwriting workshop series at the Mission 25 Recovery Engagement Center. This weekly event, lead by Gralan Early of Fulcrum Entertainment, is designed to provide a creative outlet for individuals in recovery, foster emotional well-being, and build a supportive community. Whether you’re a seasoned songwriter or just starting, this program offers a safe space to explore your creativity, share your story through music, and collaborate with others.

Each session will cover songwriting fundamentals, including music theory, lyric writing, melody crafting, and more. Participants will also have the opportunity to perform their songs, receive feedback, and learn about the business of songwriting.

This is your chance to turn your emotions and experiences into powerful music, all while connecting with others on the same journey.

Expressive Melodies is FREE and open to adults looking for a creative outlet for their recovery.

Friends & Flannels Friendsgiving Event

Grab your favorite flannel and join us for an unforgettable Friendsgiving night full of warmth, gratitude, and good times! Our first Friends & Flannels Friendsgiving Event wouldn’t be complete without a pizza party, caramel apple bar, game time, art workshop, and YOU.

Don’t forget your flannel! This cozy gathering is all about celebrating friendship, sharing laughs, and enjoying the warmth of the season. We can’t wait to make this Friendsgiving one to remember with you.

Friends & Flannels Friendsgiving is FREE and open to individuals to gather with others in thanks and friendship!

Enjoy an array of delicious pizza options to kick off the evening! We’ve got the classic flavors covered so everyone can dig in. Make your own fall treat at our caramel apple bar! With slices, caramel, and all your favorite toppings, you can create a custom treat that’s perfect for the season. Let the games begin! We’ll be hosting a round of Jeopardy or Bingo for some friendly competition. Fun prizes await, so bring your A-game! Reflect on what you’re thankful for as we each create our own Grateful Tree. A simple but meaningful craft to take home and display, capturing the spirit of the season.

A Blue Christmas: Candlelight Vigil

For many, the holiday season is not a time of joy but a time of deep longing and sorrow. If you have lost someone dear to you, we invite you to join us for a Blue Christmas Candlelight Vigil—a time to honor your loved one and to find comfort in community.

Through moments of quiet reflection, the glow of candlelight and shared understanding, we will create space for grief—acknowledging that it’s okay to not be okay. This in-memoriam event provides an opportunity for expression, remembrance, healing and community during the holiday season.

In collaboration with Churubusco United Methodist Church, Columbia City United Methodist Church and Mission 25, A Blue Christmas Candlelight Vigil will be held at the Recovery Engagement Center.

Holiday Movie Night

Get ready for a holly jolly evening filled with holiday cheer! Join us for a magical Holiday Movie Night featuring the beloved classic, Elf! Snuggle up in your coziest Christmas pajamas and let’s make this night one to remember.

Enjoy a night of laughter, crafts, and delicious treats with family and friends as we celebrate the season together. This event is FREE and open to all ages. Let’s make the season merry and bright!

Festive fun awaits with

  • Bones Theatre Popcorn
  • Tasty Hot Cocoa
  • Christmas Cookies
  • Winter Crafting
  • Cheesy Nachos

Plus! Wear your favorite Christmas pajamas and enjoy the movie in style!

Naloxone (NARCAN) Administration Training

In this FREE Layperson Naloxone (NARCAN) Training, presented by Mission 25, you will learn about the effects of the opioid public health crisis in the U.S., how to recognize the signs of an opioid overdose and how to administer the opioid overdose reversal drug, Naloxone.

Naloxone (brand name Narcan™) is an opiate antidote which reverses an opioid overdose in much as the same manner as an EpiPen (epinephrine injection) reverses an allergic reaction. Opioids include heroine and prescription pain pills like OxyContin, Percocet, methadone and Vicodin. When a person is overdosing from an opioid, their central nervous system and respiration system is depressed and breathing slows, or stops. Naloxone blocks the effects of opioids and reverses the effects of an overdose.

This Training Includes:

  • Recognize the signs of an opioid overdose
  • Demonstrate how to administer the opioid overdose reversal drug, Naloxone (NARCAN)
  • Discuss the role of harm-reduction in the overall opioid public health crisis solutions, action plans and strategies
  • List a minimum of three overdose prevention tips for people who use drugs (PWUD)

Vision Vibes & Goals

Dream it. Believe it. Do it. Setting personal goals & aspirations for 2025.

New year, new you! Join us for an inspiring and fun-filled evening of vision boarding, laughter, and creativity.

Not sure what a vision board is? It’s a creative and visual tool that helps you clarify, focus on, and manifest or pray about your goals and dreams. By cutting and arranging images, words, and affirmations that represent the life you want to create, you’ll craft a board that serves as a powerful daily reminder of what you’re working toward. This time around, we’re focusing on the future of 2025.

We’ll provide all the supplies you need to bring your vision to life, along with delicious appetizers—featuring dips and finger foods—to keep the good vibes flowing.

Whether you’re praying about or manifesting big goals or dreaming up your next adventure, this is your time to focus on YOU.

Please note: This event is designed for adults and may not be suitable for younger children.

A Blue Christmas: Candlelight Vigil

This holiday season, if you find yourself grieving a loss, struggling with sorrow, facing any kind of difficulty, or navigating disappointment, we invite you to join us for a Blue Christmas Candlelight Vigil—a time to honor your loved one and to find comfort in community.

Through moments of quiet reflection, the glow of candlelight and shared understanding, we will create space for grief—acknowledging that it’s okay to not be okay. This in-memoriam event provides an opportunity for expression, remembrance, healing and community during the holiday season.

In collaboration with Churubusco United Methodist Church, Columbia City United Methodist Church and Mission 25, A Blue Christmas Candlelight Vigil will be held at the Recovery Engagement Center.

Telling Your Story with Ciara Bolling and Jimmy Grindle

Gather at the Recovery Engagement Center for small group storytelling and conversation with local leaders, Ciara Bolling and Jimmy Grindle! Enjoy comfort foods served in an old-school classic Potluck dinner and relaxing table activities. This event is not meant for children under the age of 15.

Recovery Engagement Center: A Note on “Hope” from Joy Wagner

Posted on by Morgan Ellis

Mission 25’s Recovery Engagement Center helps us show love together

It’s been said that if you “do what you love,” you will “never work a day in your life.” Don’t get me wrong—I admit that it can feel like work every Monday through Friday. Some days are just plain exhausting when working in the recovery sector of social services. However, here is my absolute truth: I love the job I get to do every day. My passion for helping people rebuild their lives on their recovery journey is what fills my proverbial cup.

Working with Individuals in Recovery

People often ask me if it’s hard to work with “people like that.” It’s not usually intended to be an offensive, or marginalizing question. What I think they mean by asking me this, is “people who have come from hard places who are working to improve their lives.” The Mission 25 Recovery Engagement Center (REC) is truly the place for that healing work to happen.

I know people in recovery who consistently attend our 9:30 a.m. Monday morning journaling group, despite having worked the night shift, all for their own accountability and health.

I know people in recovery who have quit their life’s dependency on an extremely powerful synthetic drug, all so their child can come back home to live with them, entirely changing the trajectory of both their lives.

I know people in recovery who have completed all 4 levels of Mission 25’s Resident Program, moving into their own home through our Supportive Housing service line, and remain engaged within our recovery programming.

I know people who never, for one second, forget that Mission 25, and the REC, is their safe space during their recovery journey.

“Those people” fill my work calendar with meaningful meetings, appointments, sessions, groups, and plain-old chats over coffee. They make my job so much more than just a job.

What does the REC do?

This beautiful space, a sanctuary of hope and worship, modified to be a sanctuary of hope and healing, holds an important role in our community. The REC does the meaningful work of giving individuals and families a safe space. This space, full of support and accountability, helps people who are struggling with trauma and addiction. Community and compassion are what bring people in recovery back to this building.

The REC brings different pathways of recovery to Whitley County and Northeast Indiana. Each pathway is enriched with a schedule of recovery groups, bringing people together and meeting them where they are. And it’s no secret that all of these groups share one thing in common: people in recovery.

Those who attend our recovery groups and events can be fighting the same battles or climbing the same mountains as those sitting to the right of them. And each of those individuals understand and empathize with each other through those shared experiences—where paths of addiction set them back and paths of recovery lead them forward.

In all of recovery’s highs and lows, people know that peer support is available here at the REC. Whether in the beginning chapters or personal maintenance stage, we believe that community and connection are roots within the recovery journey.

My “Why”

“Giving individuals a positive, naturally lighted, plant-filled space to build a whole new, healthy community is ‘my why.’”

I, along with the entire Mission 25 team, value the shared experiences hosted within these walls. The promoted empathy and kindness work together to reduce shame and stigma.

Within These Walls

Within these walls, families undergo restoration. Strangers become comfortable with being vulnerable. Stories of personal journeys spark genuine inspiration. Friends find extreme joy and happiness. Individuals come together to help, support, love, and uplift one another until they each find their way out of the darkness. And despite some beliefs that those feelings wouldn’t be possible again, the REC proves them to be possible.

Mission 25’s work floods our community with hope. And the REC nurtures that hope with strong, healthy, sustainable connections beyond its walls.

Your support directly impacts the outcomes of our Recovery Engagement Center.

Click here to make a donation toward Mission 25’s Recovery Engagement Center.