KSHB 41 News reporter Braden Bates covers parts of Jackson County, Missouri. He got this story while exploring how different groups celebrate Christmas. Send Braden a story idea by e-mail.
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The holidays can be a challenging time for people in recovery from substance use disorder, but one Kansas City-area organization is working to restore the joy of the season.
The Healing House organization helps people recover and gain resources to get back on their feet.
"It's just blessed is the only word I can think of when I think of what this time means," said Tim, who has been in a recovery house for 45 days.
Because Tim is currently in the recovery program, the organization asked not to share his last name.
Tim said he remembers Christmases on the farm where he grew up, but in recent years the holiday's charm has vanished.
That was until he got help from the Healing House.
"We've had almost like a Hanukkah. I mean, it's just been every day we've been blessed with something, and the blessings here are huge," Tim said.
He is living in one of the organization's beginner homes with about 40 other men in recovery. This home provides peer support and accountability through structured plans and meetings.
While a newer member of the program, he has already found something special.
"This is a family, and when it comes down to it, that's a lot of the trauma that we all have based our addictions on. And so, to just have that family again, that family feeling. It's wonderful," Tim said.
For Tim, this Christmas spirit comes after years of feeling disconnected from the holidays.
"I was pretty hollow, you know, I was covering it up with alcohol, and they meant something as a kid, but I lost that feeling," Tim said.
Now, he's rediscovering that joy alongside his fellow residents, whom he considers his brothers, in recovery.
"It's so good to feel that gratefulness that I drowned out so many years," Tim said.
Walter, another resident, shared his own journey of recovery and hope for reconnection.
"I also came kind of brain cloudy on drugs. It took at least a month for me to get myself back to normal," Walter said.
He said the holiday wasn't something his family got into when he was a child.
Since joining the program four months earlier, he has embraced the festivities around him.
He said this is the time to change, not only for him but for his family.
"Never think it's too late to change your life. It's never too late," Walter said.
Walter's Christmas wish reflects the importance of both old and new family connections.
"I get to talk to my family, let them know that I'm doing okay and that I spend time with my new family," Walter said.
This new family has been cultivated by a team driven by peer support. One of the biggest supporters is Joey Thomas, a nearly seven-year veteran of the program who helps mentor newer residents.
"I'm just sitting there smiling, looking back thinking, well, do you know what's about to come?" Thomas said as he glanced at the presents they were setting up for the residents.
Thomas, while a leader in the organization, started like everyone else at the Healing House. He said he grew up surrounded by addiction and fell into the same pattern.
He said before recovery, he spent several Christmases with little recognition of the holiday.
"As an adult in my addiction, I woke up in a hotel room one time with a little tree sitting next to me, hoping that somebody was going to bring my kids over to see me, and then getting mad when they didn't. But I was high," Thomas said.
A few years later, he woke up on Christmas to gifts and the family he created through the organization. Now he gets to celebrate the holiday with his kids and those he mentors.
"I talked to so many guys in the months leading up to Christmas who tell me that they've never experienced anything like Christmas before," Thomas said.
On Christmas Day, each person in recovery receives gifts donated by the organization and its Angel Tree program.
Thomas said there's an important lesson he teaches everyone about Christmas.
"We're not always granted everything in life, and I would like them to know that helping others is what the true spirit of Christmas is about," Thomas said.
If you would like to support the Healing House and those in recovery, click here.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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