Reach Out Addiction & Recovery

R.O.A.R. House (Reach Out Addiction & Recovery House) is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization whose mission is providing sober living resources targeted at women clients.  ROAR - Reach Out Addiction & Recovery Through it's ROAR sober living house. wants to change and redirect the lives of women and women veterans suffering from substance abuse disorder. Whether homeless with the nowhere to live and struggling with opioid, heroin and alcohol addiction as well as mental health. ROAR will provide sober living housing, 12-step group sessions, music therapy, Outreach resources, pet therapy and motivational speaking tailored to women The organization emphasizes positive reinforcement and motivational tools and resources in it's intervention activities to help substance abuse sensitive women change the paradigm of recidivism and relapse that can sabotage their sobriety maintenance efforts. The emphasis of the organization is especially on female clients and female veteran clients who often lack job skills, steady income & family support or may have endured prison situations. We will provide support to other organizations in and outside of the community through leadership and vision and additional outreach programs for the women of R.O.A.R.sober living house like. PROGRAM SERVICES R.O.A.R Sober House - Group drug & alcohol therapy - Individual alcohol & drug therapy -Money managing work shops - House Music Therapy - Job training from D'Personal Touch Salon - Resume writing workshops by D'Personal Touch. MUSIC THERAPY FOR SUBSTANCE ABUSE & ADDICTION. Many addiction treatment facilities have begun to offer music therapy as a supplement to the counseling, group sessions, and skills building that often come as a staple of rehabilitation. The premise of music therapy is based on the clinical evidence, which suggests that music can be essential in individuals' management of physical, emotional, and cognitive problems. In a therapeutic sense, music therapy can involve the creation of music for individuals who are musically inclined, or just listening to music in a meaningful way. Individuals who receive music therapy often feel that music has become an important part of their emotional liberation process and will remain an essential tool for relapse prevention. With the many health benefits of music, it's clear that listening to music can be beneficial to one's recovery. The evidence shows that listening to music can help to direct individuals' emotions, creating feelings of happiness and relaxation when needed, which can be helpful since feeling stressed or anxious has been identified as common relapse triggers for many addicts in recovery. MS YAZZ STORY I am an only child born in Trinidad raised in Brooklyn NY. I was very quiet and shy and I didn't talk much because of my Trinidad accent. One day when I was still in elementary school one of the girls in my class put gum in my hair and I didnt know until the next day when I woke up to go to school. My mom had to cut all my long hair off to a short afro. I was devistated because now I looked like a boy and I was teased even more than before. My dad wasn't around much but he managed to show up for the beatings. His favorite belt was one with 3 rows of iron balls across and down the length of it. My mom used to beg him to please stop hitting me. I remember I used to go in the bathroom when he was done, crying and counting all the whelps on my body from head to foot. I'm sure thats why I chose boys that didn't treat me the way I deserved to have been treated. I'm sure some of you can relate searching for the love we didn't get from daddy in boys that didn't deserve us. My dad left for good when I was 13. Part of me was relieved for that meant no more beatings. But the other part of me blamed myself for him leaving. Why didn't my dad love me enough to stay or love me enough to stop beating me all the time. I know now my dad also suffered from beatings and abuse as a child. So he was doing what he knew how to do. It's a vicious cycle we sometimes end up repeating for not knowing any better. I eventually developed an eating disorder. I started smoking cigarettes, getting high and cutting school. My first drug of choice was marijuana. I started hanging with the wrong crowd and fighting every other week. I liked the way being high made me feel. I felt like I could be someone else. Someone that could crack jokes and make others laugh. Someone that had courage and could stand up to others. One day when I was in the 10th grade I decided to cut school. I went with this man I had met a few months back to get some weed. He invited me into an apartment to wait for him. There were a few other people there. He asked me to go into a back room with him to see a painting that happened to reference my zodiac sign. When he closed the door I had a feeling. I was in trouble. He punched me in the face and ripped my blouse off. I was screaming for help. After what seemed like forever. One of the guys busted the door in and I ran out that aptartment as fast as I could. Once at the bus stop I remember thinking I needed a joint and some E&J to help me feel better. I thought it was over. I looked up and saw the bus but I also saw that man coming. I was so scared. He got on the bus with me, sat next to me with a knife hidden under his shirt and told me if I told anyone he would kill me. I never told anyone that story. I've had guns put to my head. Too many times I've escaped situations that be it not for my awesome higher power I would be dead or in jail. I used drugs and alcohol as a way to escape. Rap music was also therapy for my escape. But once I discovered HOUSE MUSIC. I was hooked. Paradise Garage became my hang out. Friday & Saturday nights but I also got hooked on other drugs as well. I didn't want to remember the pain of the past or even feel the present. I stayed angry and complaining all the time. I was extremely negative. I had a motto that I used to walk around saying. " If it wasn't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all". I was always fighting whether a girl or guy didn't matter to me. I did make some friends along the way. But every last one of them just used me. So of course I had trust issues. I was having so much fun being high all the time. I don't know guys where doing drugs and drinking stopped being fun and started to become a problem. I was drinking about a 5th of vodka a day. It got to the point where I wasn't even getting high anymore. I needed to drink to just function and not have the shakes. Approximatley 9 yrs ago I started noticing I was having a problem with my vision. After going to several eye specialist in NJ and NY they finally diagnosed me with Toxic Optical Neuropathy. I was told I could go blind if I didn't stop drinking. My solution to this problem was to drink even more. That's the insanity of this disease of addiction. After about 1 yr of denial and noticing my vision was getting worse. I Reached Out for help and was told there would be a 1month wait on a bed for detox. I begged and begged and kept Reaching Out for help. By the 3rd day of begging I was told a bed was available and I entered a 4 day detox at Bergen Regional hospital known today as Newbridge Medical Center. I went out on disability from my job for my vision. Little did my job know I was going into a detox program. After completing my 4 day detox. I was told I should do 90 meetings in 90 days. I was going to 2 meetings a day. I got a greeting commitment then a coffee commitment, I reluctantly got a Sponsor to help guide me in the 12 steps. I also started to share my experiences at meetings when asked. To this day I still go to recovery treatment organizations to share my experience, strength & hope with my recovery family. Today I am proud of who I am and who I am becomng. I have a great relationship with my dad, I have morals, values and self respect. Just for today I have 7 yrs and 3 months clean from drugs, liquor and 5 1/2 yrs clean from cigarettes. I am so very grateful for my life today.This is why I am starting this non profit organization. R.O.A.R. Reach Out Addiction & Recovery. I want to take those painful memories and use them to help other women. Meaning of REACH OUT - to Move forward or upward in order to grasp; move as to change position: to reach out; Occupy a certain position or an attempt to communicate. All of these meanings can be instilled in a person as part of the keys to recovery. I am Reaching Out to all of you. Please give what you can. Help me help other women to Reach Out for their recovery. Reach Out Addiction & Recovery Through it's ROAR sober living house. wants to change and redirect the lives of women and women veterans suffering from substance abuse disorder. Weather homeless with the nowhere to live and struggling with opioid, heroin and alcohol addiction as well as mental health issues. ROAR will provide sober living housing, 12-step anonymous group sessions, music therapy, Outreach resources, pet therapy and motivational speaking tailored to women The organization emphasizes positive reinforcement and motivational tools and resources in it's intervention activities to help substance abuse sensitive women change the paradigm of recidivism and relapse that can sabotage their sobriety maintenance efforts. The emphasis of the organization is especially on female clients and female veteran clients who often lack job skills, steady income & family support or may have endured prison situations. We will provide support to other organizations in and outside of the community through leadership and vision and additional outreach programs for the women of R.O.A.R.sober living house like. PROGRAM SERVICES R.O.A.R Sober House - Group drug & alcohol therapy - Individual alcohol & drug therapy -Money managing work shops - House Music Therapy - Job training from D'Personal Touch Salon - Resume writing workshops by D'Personal Touch. MUSIC THERAPY FOR SUBSTANCE ABUSE & ADDICTION. Many addiction treatment facilities have begun to offer music therapy as a supplement to the counseling, group sessions, and skills building that often come as a staple of rehabilitation. The premise of music therapy is based on the clinical evidence, which suggests that music can be essential in individuals' management of physical, emotional, and cognitive problems. In a therapeutic sense, music therapy can involve the creation of music for individuals who are musically inclined, or just listening to music in a meaningful way. Individuals who receive music therapy often feel that music has become an important part of their emotional liberation process and will remain an essential tool for relapse prevention. With the many health benefits of music, it's clear that listening to music can be beneficial to one's recovery. The evidence shows that listening to music can help to direct individuals' emotions, creating feelings of happiness and relaxation when needed, which can be helpful since feeling stressed or anxious has been identified as common relapse triggers for many addicts in recovery. ROAR Has it's own recovery DJ for music therapy. WASSP: Wakeel Ali Soulful Sounds Production Music for any Occasion ¤ Clubs ¤ Private/Corporate parties ¤ Recovery Events ¤ Fundraising Events ¤ Wedding Receptions & more For booking information call (609)-416-1226 Meaning of REACH OUT - to Move forward or upward in order to grasp; move as to change position: to reach out; Occupy a certain position or an  attempt to communicate.  All of these meanings can be instilled in a person as part of the keys to recovery. I am Reaching Out to all of you.  Please give what you can.  Help me help other women to Reach Out for their recovery. APOLOGY LETTER TO MOM Sitting here thinking about all I put you through as a teenager & young adult. I want to say mom I apologize. For all the times I ran away from home For all those late nights you stayed up waiting for me to come home For always thinking of my myself and my selfish needs For not saying I love you and AL you do for me For not hugging you enough For not covering your face with kisses For lying and stealing from you because of my addiction For not putting you first after God For going to school and cutting classes For all the smoking, drinking and drugging I did that made you worry about me all the time For driving you so crazy that you ran away from home For all the disappointments mom I apologize. I love you mom thank you for never ever giving up on me. You are an amazing, strong, powerful, beautiful caring, loving woman, mother and friend. All I want to do is make you proud. I love you with all I have and then some.  I only pray I can become a piece of who you are. You are and always will be my strength. Your daughter, Yasmin