by Anita Brown, Program Officer

“We are a community of women and men traumatized by homelessness, addiction, and other mental health challenges, coming to know ourselves as loved with gifts to share.”

Bill Somerville, PVF Founder, recently went to visit the Recovery Café in San Jose.

The café creates a space for people who cannot afford long-term recovery services and helps to “facilitate community, personal growth, and leadership development” to help address the challenges of addiction, unemployment, and homelessness. To that end, Recovery Café not only provides food and drink, it also offers meaningful activities and opportunities for peer support and service, access to and support with resources and tools, daily “recovery circles,” weekly jam sessions and chorus times, and workshops through the School for Recovery.

The School for Recovery offers programs in addiction and recovery (e.g. a “Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention” class), life skills (e.g. a coffee workshop and a financial workshop), inner healing and relationships (e.g. “Self Discovery Through Art” and “Feelings Check In” sessions), and healthy living (e.g. a tai chi class). A member of the Recovery Café said, “The classes built my confidence to where now I get up and I am ready to challenge anything. It made me believe I can do more.”