On Saturday at 3 p.m., the “Bag the Habit” cornhole tournament will be held at the Bible Baptist Temple at 4361 State Route 41 NW in Washington C.H.
The goal of the tournament is to raise funds for Resurrection Recovery, a recently founded local nonprofit that works to help individuals who are struggling with addiction. In particular, funds from the tournament will go toward any expenses associated with the establishment of a sober living home within Fayette County.
Resurrection Recovery President Cody Bowen said the nonprofit has sent 31 people to treatment so far. Once these individuals come home, however, they sometimes struggle to keep from slipping back into old habits once surrounded by old temptations and friends who may still be using.
“We’re sending all these people to rehab and to treatment, and they’re coming home and we’re basically feeding them to the wolves,” said Bowen.
A sober living facility would give these individuals a better chance of staying clean by giving them a supportive, drug-free environment to live in, according to Bowen.
Resurrection Recovery is still looking for a property to use for the sober living facility and is hoping someone in the community may be able to donate one. Although the nonprofit will need help getting the sober living facility set up, Bowen said it will be self-sustaining once its ready.
The plan is for the men who live there to work and pay rent. Bowen said the nonprofit will help them to find jobs and, by doing so, will make them “productive members of society.” In addition, he said the men living in the sober living facility will be guided by a live-in lead with at least 18 months of sobriety and will be assisted in everything from reuniting with their children to getting their driver’s licenses.
Bowen said these men will then be able to contribute to the local economy. They’ll also learn important skills for maintaining sobriety after leaving the sober living home.
Although the first sober living facility will be for men, Bowen said Resurrection Recovery intends to open one for women once the men’s is established. Currently, there are more local resources for women who are struggling with addiction than for men, which is why the men’s home will be opened first, according to Bowen.
Bowen said efforts to establish sober living are “starting to progress and there’s a lot of positive things coming from it and people are starting to get on board,” adding, “I just don’t want it to stop.” He also said that “it’s nice to see the stigma [of addiction] is finally dying down.”
Still, he believes more needs to be done to help those who are struggling. “It’s quite literally gonna take all of Fayette County coming together to support this in order for anything to happen,” he said.
Those interested in the tournament can preregister at the Resurrection Recovery Facebook page or can register on the day of the event. The cost is $25 per team.
