Programs
Overview: Residential Work Training Recovery Programs
The Firstep Recovery Programs for Men (founded in 1987) and Women (founded in 1989) provide an opportunity for those with alcohol and chemical dependencies to become clean and sober and thus reclaim the productive lives they once had. Firstep is a long-term, residential, work-recovery program. The program is unique in that we do not charge our clients, rather, the clients work at jobs we procure for them, and the income generated by that work sustains the program.
Our clients work six days a week, and devote evenings to the 12-Step programs of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. For many of our clients, Firstep is an opportunity of last resort. Many have tried treatment programs that did not work. Many have battled addicitions for so long, they have forgotten how to live a responsible life. We offer a way up and out.
Living in a structured therapeutic community, our clients relearn life skills, such as getting up every morning and going to work, being where you say you will be when you say you will be there and being responsible on the job. In addition to creating valuable work habits, clients receive individual counseling, group therapy, relapse prevention, and parenting classes through Tri-City Youth and Family Services. Also, the Meinders Foundation provides weekly math and literacy tutoring, taught by a certified teacher.
Referrals to the Firstep programs are received from a variety of resources such as graduates of the program, attorneys, drug and alcohol counselors, ministers, social workers, private physicians, twelve step recovery groups, court systems and jail alternative programs such as Drug Court which is in Fifty-nine (59) counties in Oklahoma. We serve all areas of the state of Oklahoma.
Public Inebriate Alternative PIA
We work with the Oklahoma City Police Department to bring this progressive program to the community.
The Public Inebriate Alternative program (PIA) is a jail alternative for adults who have been arrested for public intoxication but who are not committing any other crime. At the discretion of the arresting officer, persons can be brought to PIA for a ten hour detention period, where they are fed and can "sleep it off" in a safe, clean place. Because many clients were being brought to PIA on a regular basis, the Firstep Recovery Programs were developed as a next step to address alcohol and chemical dependency issues on a long-term basis.
