The faith-based addiction treatment center Freedom Recovery held its ribbon-cutting ceremony last month as it opened a new branch in Galion.

Freedom Recovery co-founder Chad Kelly explained the organization had previously rented a space in Galion, but the new location is fully their own. In the new location on Portland Way North, Freedom Recovery will offer both group and individual counseling along with various services to help those in recovery re-enter the community.

Many of Freedom Recovery’s patients come from a residential program where they have spent anywhere from a few days to several months in recovery. The clinicians at Freedom Recovery then help them transition back to “normal life, or at least the new normal,” Kelly said.

Most patients at Freedom Recovery will spend about 9 hours in group therapy over three sessions. They will also have 1 hour-long session with an individual counselor and another weekly case management session.

These case management sessions focus on helping patients piece their lives back together and can involve things like helping the patient follow proper steps to regain their driver’s license or custody of their children, find a new job or housing, learn how to grocery shop and cook, and sign up for things like health insurance.

Kelly said at Freedom Recovery, their goal is to “try to meet people where they’re at” and personalize the assistance each patient needs. Three of the four founding members of the organization are in recovery themselves and understand the challenges that their patients are facing.

Freedom Recovery opened in 2017 and now has multiple locations across Ohio, including in Columbus, Dayton, Galion, London and Marysville. All are state licensed and medicaid approved treatment facilities.

Freedom Recovery stands out from other similar organizations by offering a “faith-based substance abuse treatment.” The recovery center is non-denominational and not affiliated with any particular religious organization.

“Faith can help you recover,” Kelly said. He added that while they do not force faith onto any of their patients, he and the other founders feel that faith played an integral part in their own recovery and want to offer the same assistance to others.

“Everybody’s recovery looks different,” Kelly said. In addition to the therapy options available, Freedom Recovery also works to connect patients with support groups along with a faith community, if they wish to pursue that path.

Kelly, who will have been in recovery for 13 years this November, explained that “(recovery) is a life-long thing” and that connecting with support groups and the community is a great way to ensure that recovery is successful.

To those in recovery or actively struggling with addition, Kelly said, “There is hope out there. … you don’t have to continue to live isolated. There is hope out there and there is help.”

Anyone in need of Freedom Recovery’s services or seeking more information can reach out at (614) 754-8051 or visit its website at freedomrecovery.us.

Hannah Bryan is a correspondent for the Galion Inquirer. She can be reached at [email protected].