The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
People struggling with substance abuse who need help connecting with services, or who just need to talk, have a new resource on Hamilton Street.
Community in Crisis, headquartered in Bernardsville, recently opened a satellite location – called a “hub” – at 873 Hamilton Street, and had a grand opening celebration on September 18.
The 12-year-old organization’s leaders envision the hub as a place for those in recovery to gather, hold conversations, and be steered toward services they may need.
The hub is meant to “help people who are struggling with substance use in crisis, who really don’t know who to turn to,” said Andi Williams, CIC’s executive director. “It’s also to help those who are in recovery, help them sustain their sobriety.”
“It’s a really tough disease to to combat, and then sobriety is very difficult to maintain,” she said. “And also, we help youth and families with prevention education, hoping that they don’t go down that path in the first place anyway.”
The CIC’s Recovery Support Team at the Hamilton Street location is headed by Ken Musgrove, the center’s Director of Recovery Support.
“We come at the process from the voice of lived experience,” Musgrove said. “I’m a person in sustained recovery. Everyone on my staff is in recovery.”
“The center here will be a drop-in center where folks can come in and just have a conversation, start a conversation with us, and see where it leads,” he said. “And hopefully we can connect them to resources to help them thrive in their recovery and to explore what recovery looks like to them.”
“Some folks, they just might want a safe place to sit down and have a cold drink or a warm drink and start a conversation,” he said. “And then hopefully over time, we’ll build that relationship and be able to offer the direct services that they need.”
“We are a non-profit, so everything we do is free of charge,” Musgrove said. “So we remove that barrier to service as well.” He said all services are also confidential.
“It’s very much individualized service, so we do one-on-one peer support with someone, and they lead the conversation, and we help to meet them where they are,” he said.
The center doesn’t do direct counseling, but will refer people to “other services if it’s something that we cannot provide. We recognize our lane,” he said.
The center has formed partnerships with a number of local and area organizations, including the Franklin Food Bank, Zufall Health Services, the First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens and the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.
Somerset County Board of Commissioners Director Shanel Robinson said the County is also a funding source for the organization.
“tT have them here in the neighborhood, this is a prime location, a walkable community,” she said. “I think being here will be able to open up doors and opportunities for those who may thought they had none.”
“it’s not just them providing the recovery service and sustainable recovery, but also being a hub to have information to refer out … to other services that are provided throughout the county,” Robinson said. “And to be able to walk them through that journey is second to none.”
“This is the best part of our job, to be invested in the community and the people that live here in Somerset County, partnering with people such as CIC and their organization and making sure that they have what they need,” she said.
The Center is open Mondays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays.
The Franklin Reporter & Advocate was at the grand opening:
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