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Our mission is to provide rigorous self-help programs in a safe, caring residential setting to support men, most of whom are veterans, who are transitioning from the cycle of poverty, substance abuse and homelessness to self-sufficiency.Real recovery takes time. Because typical institutional treatment programs last for only 28 days, most participants relapse after leaving. At The Baltimore Station, we have the knowledge and real-life experience to know it takes months of living in a highly-structured, therapeutic environment to learn and practice a new way of living. And this program works. At least 65% of the men who stay in our program for one month are still here six months later. After 18 months, most are living independently, gainfully employed and/or enrolled in college, and contributing members of the Baltimore community. Station graduates hold jobs at Baltimore businesses, nonprofits, museums, hospitals, and at BWI Airport.
Our nationally-recognized program incorporates three “traditional” programs under one roof:
28-day Program (Month 1) During this beginning stage of recovery, residents are required to “sit still” in order to look inward and concentrate on the roots of their addiction. From early morning until late at night, the majority of the day is spent in group and individual counseling, addressing immediate health issues, and receiving in-depth drug and alcohol education. Residents receive acupuncture treatment to help alleviate withdrawal symptoms, which often cause relapses.
Half-way House (Months 2 to 6) As the men become more stable, they can now focus on such life skills as job readiness, budgeting, education, and household responsibilities. They practice the skills they have learned, such as how to develop a network of support and making good choices.
Transition (Months 6 to 12, or up to 24 months) At this stage, the men are living at the Station with minimal supervision and are either in school or working. They continue to implement life skills, including saving money, repairing broken relationships with family and friends, and incorporating relapse-prevention strategies into their daily lives. It is during this time, that these men are especially helpful as mentors to new men in the program.
The Baltimore Station program counselors can “talk the talk” and have “walked the walk.” A key aspect of our program design is that residents are counseled by their “peers,” meaning that all Baltimore Station counselors are “graduates” of the program. Research has found that formerly homeless consumers employed as staff can perform as well as non-consumer staff and are especially skilled at engaging homeless persons in services and treatment. “Peer” providers break down resistance and convince residents to be fully engaged in their treatment and service programs. Our counselors are all certified and in school working towards their bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
The Baltimore Station is a place where veterans find the structure and living environment that speaks to their needs. Most of the counseling staff are veterans, which provides them with the knowledge and experience to serve the special needs of homeless vets who often use drugs to “quiet” the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Our residents include veterans from Vietnam and the Gulf War, and we are now beginning to see vets from Iraq and Afghanistan.
The men at The Baltimore Station do not live in isolation. Part of learning how to live a different way of life means giving back to the community that is supporting them. Our residents are involved in community clean-up and gardening projects, festivals, business promotions, neighborhood meetings and advocacy events.
Residents are also “real life” educators. Many of the volunteers who come to The Baltimore Station are teens or parents who face addiction issues in their own communities or families. When volunteers give their time to The Baltimore Station, our residents “give back” by telling their stories of life on the streets caused by addiction. They are a resource to help people, particularly teens, understand the long-term consequences of abusing drugs and alcohol.
The Baltimore Station carefully manages its funding support. We don’t duplicate needed support services, but form partnerships with other providers in the city. This approach to management achieves real results. In addition to the incalculable human savings of real recovery, we achieve enormous cost-savings to the Baltimore community. It costs the Station $39 a day to house, feed, and provide services to a resident – roughly half the daily cost of incarceration, and one-fourteenth of what our residents say they had been stealing daily to support their drug habit.
Real recovery at The Baltimore Station benefits from strong partnerships with a wide circle of local organizations and state agencies. Through our partners, we are able to offer Station residents such important services as health care, education, vocational rehabilitation, and employment. And Tthe Station’s “extended family” includes more than 300 actively involved volunteers every year – men, women, teens, children, families, and religious and civic organizations. Our volunteers not only lend many helping hands to our services and projects; they also are an integral part of our residents’ re-engagement with the larger community.
Join our family of volunteers! Click here.