Getting sober during treatment is one thing. Living sober in the world is another.
This is the reality Cornerstone Healing Center chief operations officer Marcus Clark was well aware of when he helped his friend and sponsor Estil Wallace open the Scottsdale drug rehabilitation center in 2017.
After years of abusing everything, Clark got sober upon his first check into rehab at age 25. Clark, who has been sober for 12 years, said the journey to sobriety after the first serious attempt is actually more common than most of him think.
For Wallace, the alternative experience of going in and out of treatment and trying many avenues before finding relief from a meth addiction 18 years ago and maintaining his sobriety ever since is the path many think of when they hear of an addict who find a way to live clean.
What these two have in common, however, is the method by which they got sober, Clark said. Rehab clients can do very well in treatment, where they have someone to make their beds, cook their meals, make sure their basic needs are met, and keep them on a schedule.
But when they go back to their previous lives without this constant care, they can find a very different world than the one they knew when they were using it. Relapse is often the reaction.
What we saw was consistency in people who stay sober. They do the same things every day just like non-alcoholic people, Clark said.
Addressing this is at the heart of Cornerstones’ approach to helping customers maintain long-term sobriety. And Clark and Wallace personally attest to its effectiveness.
Our schedule is how Estil and I got sober. They make their beds, pack their lunch, work out, go to meetings so when they leave outpatient care, they know what to do. It’s so much easier when you walk out the door, Clark said. We show people that this is the life you’re going to live, so why not live that life while you’re here?
The holistic program includes a healthy chef-led menu, certified bodybuilder and coach leading workouts, yoga, and de-escalation tools that show them how to break down like non-addicts do.
Most of the customers are from Arizona with about 15 percent coming from out of state, Clark said.
The program includes residential, outpatient, and other services to address additional needs.
“I saw that they enjoyed life”
When Cornerstone accepted its first official patient in 2018, it had 10 beds. That number doubled the following year, and today there are 60. The opening of the new Phoenix location in Maryvale this summer will bring the total to 200 beds.
Cornerstones’ clientele ranges primarily between 18 and 65, with opiates still a popular drug of choice but with a switch from heroin to fentanyl in recent years, Clark said. About half of the clients are there for opiate addiction with alcohol also in the mix, he said.
After using nearly every substance from alcohol to cocaine and fentanyl for 18 years, Dru Meskan entered Cornerstone in 2021, as a last ditch effort.
He had his first DUI as a teenager, was sent to juvenile detention twice, and spent multiple stints in prison. While in college he got into heroin and tried mushrooms, with alcohol the constant partner.
When an interventionist contacted by his family sent him to Cornerstone, Meskan had been addicted to drugs for 14 years, even though he didn’t realize it.
I wasn’t sober but thought I was clean, said Meskan, who lives in Scottsdale.
He had tried other treatment centers without success. He wanted to quit and thought he could aspire to sobriety. When none of these plans worked out and Meskan began to believe he was doomed, he finally gave up and registered at Cornerstone.
At the time, the maximum sobriety he accumulated was 45 days. Meskan has been sober since March 16, 2021.
The difference in milestones was evident to Meskan from the day he met Wallace, who is his sponsor, when he hadn’t yet committed to seeking treatment there.
The love he had for the people around him was so evident. He wasn’t selling me on the spot. He was hoping I’d go but it wasn’t intrusive and that was a breath of fresh air, Meskan said.
The personal involvement of those at Cornerstone was also key in reaching Meskan and maintaining his sobriety. For the first time, he was in a center where he felt people cared about him and could relate to what he was going through, all while having fun and being happy.
They are emotionally involved. It’s not just a business or a job, so it made me trust them more. I could see they were enjoying life, Meskan said.
Not focusing so much on the past is another aspect Meskan has noticed is different from other centers she has experienced.
Other places focus on trauma and your past. It’s great, but what are you doing with it? You don’t want to sit there angst about things from your past. Cornerstone spends more time on how to overcome it, Meskan said.
Meskan’s addiction left him with few credits short of graduation. But Cornerstone inspired him to go back and he completed his communications degree.
He recently opened First & Mane, his upscale barber shop in Old Town Scottsdale. There, he cuts Wallace’s son’s hair.
Every great thing in my life is a direct result of Cornerstone. I have a very good relationship with my family, my life is completely different than it was two years and three months ago, Meskan said. He changed my life and can do it for anyone who is willing to listen and take action.
Seeing the change in those who seek help is inspiring
Clark met Wallace while undergoing his first and only treatment at a facility where Wallace was on the board. They hooked up and Wallace mentored Clark.
It was a big part of me getting sober, Clark said.
This led to a lifelong friendship and business partnership as both share their experiences of addiction and sobriety with those seeking help in Cornerstone.
Cornerstone is part of a U.S. market for substance use and disorder treatment expected to grow to nearly $60.2 billion by 2029, according to Fortune Business Insights.
Cornerstone also partners with nursing students at Arizona State University and other schools to destigmatize and advance education in the addiction recovery space. Through a comprehensive hands-on tutor program, Cornerstone helps nurses feel ready to serve patients in this often overlooked aspect of nursing on their first day on the job.
It facilitates the next era of people who will care for these patients, Clark said.
Watching people arrive in Cornerstone unhappy, hopeless and broken and leave happily ever after is a transformation Clark sees often and treasures.
For example, a few years ago a man walked in with his parents and minutes later was caught doing fentanyl in the bathroom at Cornerstones. He went on rehab, got sober, got married and now runs the Cornerstones recovery coaching program.
Seeing former clients get jobs, have kids, get sober and change is all beautiful, Clark said. There aren’t many environments like this.
What: Cornerstone Healing Center
Where: Scottsdale, Phoenix
Employees: 52
factoid: According to Fortune Business Insights, the US market for substance use and disorder treatment is expected to grow to $60.18 billion by 2029.
Details: 480-863-0220, cornerstonehealingcenter.com
#Scottsdales #Cornerstone #Healing #Center #Helps #People #Stay #Sober
Image Source : www.azcentral.com