New multi-campus Collegiate Recovery Program supports students

By Staff Report, posted Sep 12, 2023 on BizFayetteville.com

Image: Methodist University's Cynthia Reyes (director) and Greg Berry (assistant director) lead the new, multi-campus Collegiate Recovery Program - Photo provided by MU

Stemming from a $500,000-plus grant that was announced in January, Methodist University and Fayetteville Technical Community College have partnered to offer the Collegiate Recovery Program. Available to students on both campuses, the Collegiate Recovery Program uses a design that embraces evidence-based practices and supports students’ decisions to engage in a lifestyle of recovery.

“College students are some of the most stressed people in our society with everything that they’re handling right now, which means the potential for substance misuse is very high,” said MU’s Cynthia Reyes, director of Campus Recreation, Wellness & Collegiate Recovery, in a press release. “This helps provide them with a safe space if they feel like it’s becoming an issue or if they’re nervous about a family member’s history of addiction.”

Located in Pearce Hall on the MU campus, the Collegiate Recovery Program offers a dedicated lounge area where any student can socialize and engage in fun activities. The program also offers a variety of mutual aid support groups – SMART recovery, Celebrate Recovery, 12 Steps, Wellness/Recovery Action Planning (WARP), harm reduction, and more – and offers access to Gregory Berry, a highly trained North Carolina Certified Peer Support Specialist and SMART Recovery Facilitator whose office is in Pearce.

“As someone in long-term recovery, I’ve had to navigate college while in recovery,” Berry said in a press release. “I know from past experience all of the challenges you face in college when you’re someone going through recovery, so I’m familiar with the needs that students have. I just want to be able to help students if they’re going through anything. It’s extremely gratifying.”

The program also works directly with MU’s Health & Counseling Services and Campus Recreation to help meet the physical and mental needs of students.

FTCC’s Collegiate Recovery Program office is located in room 630 of the Horace Sisk Building.

Ilana Sheppard is FTCC’s peer support specialist overseeing the center.

FTCC peer support specialist Ilana Sheppard (left) and Methodist’s Gregory Berry speak at the opening of FTCC Collegiate Recovery Center on Aug. 30, 2023 - Photo by Brad Losh with FTCC

Sheppard noted that recovery resources extend beyond the traditional focus of drug- and alcohol-abuse recovery to mental wellness. “Recovery is not just for substances, but for mental health as well,” Sheppard said in a press release. “We provide a safe space for those individuals to come to and enjoy without the outside stress.”

Although the Collegiate Recovery Program is new to Methodist University, the institution does have a history of assisting students with the road to recovery. In 2020, Mitzi Averette, adjunct assistant professor of Nursing, collaborated with MU students to create Cumberland County’s first collegiate recovery gathering called “Roaring4Recovery.” Averette now offers expert and volunteer guidance to the Collegiate Recovery Program.

“When I came to campus in 2020, the program saved my college career and helped me stay involved on campus,” said MU senior Adriana DeMercurio, a student ambassador for the Collegiate Recovery Program and a Psychology major, in a press release. “It’s very rewarding to see the impact it has made on other students, and that’s why I’m involved with the Collegiate Recovery Program.”

MU senior Rosalinda Torres, who is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Social Work this December, said students like her see the importance of having a program directly on campus.

“Everyone needs support,” Torres said in a press release. “Knowing that there’s a place on campus where there’s no judgment and we have the freedom to speak in confidence, it helps students in recovery overcome a lot of things.”

Any student is welcome to visit the Collegiate Recovery Program at Pearce Hall 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Saturdays.

For more information about the FTCC office, contact Ilana Sheppard at sheppari@faytechcc.edu or call 910.486.3684

Copyright © 2024 Enhanced Media Management Inc. dba Greater Fayetteville Business Journal
This story may be displayed, reformatted and printed for your personal, noncommercial use only and in accordance with our Terms of Service located at https://bizfayetteville.com/useragreement.