Governor to Attend Grand Opening of East Bay Recovery Center

Governor Gina M. Raimondo will join leaders from East Bay Community Action Program, the Town of Bristol, the Bristol Health Equity Zone, and her Health and Human Services Cabinet to celebrate the Grand Opening of East Bay Recovery Center on May 2, 2018 at 10 a.m. at the Parish Hall of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church (across from the Church at 399 Hope Street, Bristol, RI).

The East Bay Recovery Center operates under the direction of East Bay Center, a division of East Bay Community Action Program (EBCAP), in partnership with Bristol Health Equity Zone (HEZ). It offers peer-to-peer support services, health and wellness activities, employment assistance programs, community outreach, and recovery-oriented social events, connecting those in recovery to the people, supports, and activities that help make long-term recovery a reality.

The Recovery Center aims to personalize recovery by serving as a physical location where recovery allies can organize and provide support and care.

Involved in the collaborative effort to establish this Recovery Center were: Emily Spence, Bristol HEZ, Lieutenant Stephen St. Pierre, Bristol Police, Steven Contente, Bristol Town Administrator, Reverend Elizabeth Habecker, St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, Tommy Joyce, Director, East Bay Recovery Center, Ernie Thivierge, Recovery Coach, East Bay Recovery Center, and Robert Crossley, Vice President of Behavioral Health, EBCAP.

“The opening of East Bay Recovery Center is an excellent example of how community leaders from a variety of sectors can collaborate to address our state’s overdose crisis. Only through this type of local-level collaboration will we begin to shift the misperceptions associated with Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT), remove the barriers to effective treatment, and ensure the appropriate supports are in place for a person’s long-term recovery,” said Governor Gina M. Raimondo. “Partners are also coming together to build healthy communities of opportunity across Rhode Island through our Health Equity Zone initiative. This new resource – established by the community, for the community – is a wonderful example of the difference these collaborative efforts can make in the lives of our friends, neighbors, and loved ones.”

“We are honored to have Governor Raimondo, Dr. Alexander-Scott, and Director Boss join us in this Grand Opening Celebration. Our Recovery Center supports and aligns with the goals of Governor Raimondo’s Overdose Prevention and Intervention Task Force in addressing the opioid overdose crisis,” said Crossley.

The Recovery Center and behavioral health are part of EBCAP’s full service healthcare network, operating at locations throughout the East Bay, which also includes primary care family practice physicians and dentists.

For information please contact East Bay Recovery Center’s program director, Tommy Joyce, at 401-302-6231.

East Bay Center (EBC), a community-based lifeline of behavioral health services, provides: 24 hour emergency services/crisis intervention, counseling for adults and children, psychiatric services, medication prescription and monitoring, and substance use/opioid use disorder treatment services.