Co-founder Sara Helcoski talks with volunteer Linda Loop Armstrong in the kitchen area at New Roots Recovery Support Center on Water Street in Wilkes-Barre.
                                 Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader

Co-founder Sara Helcoski talks with volunteer Linda Loop Armstrong in the kitchen area at New Roots Recovery Support Center on Water Street in Wilkes-Barre.

Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader

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<p>Jimmy Sweeney, left, with Matt Zito, a certified recovery specialist at New Roots Recovery Support Center.</p>
                                 <p>Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader</p>

Jimmy Sweeney, left, with Matt Zito, a certified recovery specialist at New Roots Recovery Support Center.

Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader

<p>The logo for the New Roots Recovery Support Center.</p>
                                 <p>Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader</p>

The logo for the New Roots Recovery Support Center.

Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader

<p>This sign is found at the New Roots Recovery Support Center.</p>
                                 <p>Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader</p>

This sign is found at the New Roots Recovery Support Center.

Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader

<p>New Roots Recovery Support Center on Water Street in Wilkes-Barre.</p>
                                 <p>Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader</p>

New Roots Recovery Support Center on Water Street in Wilkes-Barre.

Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader

WILKES-BARRE — Jimmy Sweeney said his life was going downhill.

Sweeney, 37 of Wilkes-Barre, said he knew he needed help.

The good news is that Sweeney found a place that helped him and he said this week that he is forever grateful.

The place where Sweeney got the help he needed is New Roots Recovery Support Center, located on Water Street in Wilkes-Barre. The mission at New Roots is “to provide hope and support to individuals with a substance use disorder — and their families — and to facilitate the journey towards a healthier life through meaningful relationships and ​community engagement.”

Kristen Topolski, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of New Roots, said that the project was originally started on a volunteer basis with the belief that a peer-driven recovery support center was critical for individuals and families impacted by substance use disorders.

“Within a few short months of opening the first recovery support center, it was evident that the need was greater than anticipated,” Topolski said. “At that point, New Roots began formalizing peer-based services and has grown from there.”

Topolski and Sarah Helcoski, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, established New Roots in 2018. They were keenly aware of the correlation between homelessness, incarceration, and addiction.

“New Roots also knows that for many of these people, mental health issues that go undiagnosed and untreated add to the issues that need to be addressed,” Helcoski said.

Helcoski and Topolski said they chose the location at 121 Water St., next to the Luzerne County Correctional Facility, to be visible to those in need of services.

“Many individuals we serve have co-occurring disorders,” Helcoski said. “Access to timely mental health services is a major barrier, as it can impact one’s ability to overcome other barriers, including access to sustainable employment, housing, and interactions with natural supports. In order to combat mental health and behavioral issues that threaten the recovery process, New Roots provides an array of peer-based services, rooted in the needs presented.”

‘Getting through dark days’

Sweeney spoke about New Roots and how the staff there helped him through some dark days.

“We talk about stuff here,” Sweeney said. “I’m better than I was back then — when I was not being sober.”

Sweeney said he was living in an apartment with a group of people who were always drinking and/or getting high.

“I knew I had to get out of there,” he said.

So Sweeney arrived on the doorstep at New Roots where he met Matt Zito, a certified recovery specialist. The two hit it off immediately.

“Like we do with all of our clients, we set up goals for Jimmy,” Zito said. “And we worked with him to help him achieve those goals.”

Goals like finding a job, housing, food, clothing, social skills, and building a resume and helping them prepare for job interviews. New Roots also helps clients get necessary documents like a Social Security card and a birth certificate.

‘It’s a process’

Linda Armstrong Loop, founder of Dress for Success and a Certified Recovery Specialist (CRS), has been in recovery for 28 years. Loop helps out at New Roots when she can.

“It’s a process,” Loop said. “We immediately start building a plan address immediate needs and build trust. People like Jimmy know they are not alone. We’ve all been there.”

Loop said the staff at New Roots helps to make referrals and they do follow-up to make sure the clients are progressing and to address any issues that may come up along the way.

According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, 64% of individuals experiencing homelessness are suffering from alcohol and/or substance use disorders.

New Roots provides peer-based recovery support services to individuals throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania at centers in Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton, Tamaqua, and employs several individuals who are licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to provide services to those in need. Certified Recovery Specialists — or CRSs as they are called — are trained to tap into a myriad of services that individuals experiencing homelessness need.

Topolski, Helcoski, Loop and Zito said when an individual seeks help with their recovery at New Roots, a CRS offers comfort and begins to build a relationship.

“Recovery isn’t a one-time transaction,” Zito said. “It takes time and a CRS needs to build rapport and trust with a person. We can help them in so many ways and one of the most important ways is to just be someone who genuinely cares about them because so many people don’t.”

New Roots provides help in building what the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSA) describes as the 4 Pillars of Recovery — Health, Home, Community and Purpose. With these four pillars in place, an individual has a better chance of a full recovery and leading a fulfilled life.

Over the span of 20 years in Human Services, Topolski has primarily focused on participant-centered program development. She designed and implemented all aspects of robust 24-hour shelter programs and various social service programs relating to housing and economic instability, as well as programs promoting self-sufficiency and healthy relationships.

Across her roles, Topolski engaged the community, garnered a large donor and volunteer base, and encouraged her programs to blossom based on peer-driven principles.

Helcoski has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from The Pennsylvania State University in Crime, Law, and Justice, with Minors in Sociology and Human Development and Family Studies. In addition, she obtained a Master of Science Degree from Marywood University in Criminal Justice.

Helcoski completed the Peer Specialist Supervisor Training in June 2018. Her professional background includes significant experience collaborating with local and state agencies to obtain referrals for qualified individuals who were facing homelessness due to mental health and/or criminal justice barriers.

Funding

In 2018, New Roots was the recipient of reinvestment dollars from Northeast Behavioral Health Care Consortium (NBHCC) and Community Care Behavioral Health Organization (CCBH) to open and operate Luzerne County’s first freestanding recovery support center.

Later, New Roots became a contracted provider through CCBH with the ability to provide certified peer recovery support services in 31 counties throughout Pennsylvania.

In addition, New Roots is a treatment provider through the Luzerne/Wyoming Counties Single County Authority (SCA).

For additional information, contact New Roots at 570-763-4073, or email [email protected]. Visit the web site at — NewRootsPa.org.

New Roots hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle, or email at [email protected].