MUNCIE, Ind — People look to recover from their struggles, but never look into recovering back into life. According to the City of Muncie’s 2019 Annual Action Plan, 65% of Muncie’s homeless population is addicted to substances, and 46% require treatment for mental illnesses. While these statistics are alarming, there is hope for a change.
Recovery Cafe, located in Downtown Muncie, serves as a haven for anyone in the community to come and utilize the services provided. While at the cafe, individuals can find a diverse community full of different life experiences.
Abby Gluvna, the Program Manager at Recovery Cafe, sees firsthand the community connection when everyone is brought together.
“This is a safe place for people to come and find support,” Gluvna expressed. “People can get connected to community resources, have a hot meal while they are here and just find a loving and supporting community.”
The Cafe has a variety of resources to help guide individuals no matter their situation and help them get connected to what they need. Some of the resources come from the community that focuses on mental health, employment, housing utility services, and more.
At the same time, Recovery Cafe offers its program: Motivate, Empower, Navigate, and Discover (MEND). This program is overseen by Sean Cox, the Cafe Manager and Supervisor of the program. Sean’s ultimate goal is to redirect the stigma around what recovery truly is.
“What I’m trying to do is get my peers to think a little bit differently,” Sean said. “Instead of thinking in a negative realm of things, I’m trying to get them to think life. Ultimately I’m trying to get my peers to recover back.”
However, Cox’s main purpose for getting involved in Recovery Cafe is due to his journey of recovery. Before getting involved, Cox’s athletic career was cut short due to injuries and because of that, he felt alone and isolated. He was diagnosed with Pschizo-Affective disorder with PTSD, Neuropathy from the waist down, and substance use disorder of alcohol.
Despite these challenges, Cox was able to overcome them after getting involved in Recovery Cafe and learning more about the MEND program. He believes that it is a privilege to be a mentor for his community.
“If I had never initially come here, then I wouldn’t have gone back to school, I wouldn’t have the resources that I have, and the connections that I have,” he expressed.
Nevertheless, the community needs to remember that everyone is imperfect. Gluvna emphasizes that “we, as humans, are always recovering from something.”
The mission of the Recovery Cafe doesn’t stop at its visitors surviving, it calls for them to strive to reach their full potential. If you want to get involved in Recovery Cafe, visit their website.
Contact Amelia Winter with comments at amelia.winter@bsu.edu.
