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New men's addiction recovery facility opens in Johnson County

Joseph Cruz, the housing director who recently celebrated a decade of recovery says that even with 30 more spots, Next Step still has a waitlist.

CLARKSVILLE, Ark. — A new residential facility for men in addiction recovery is now open in Johnson County. Next Step Recovery Housing opened a new residential facility in Clarksville that will serve 30 men in early recovery.

This is in addition to the group's existing 10-bed facility. Joseph Cruz is the housing director who recently celebrated a decade of recovery.

He’s excited to help these men from the time they wake up until they go to bed in a place that feels more like home.

He says their residents attend drug and alcohol counseling together.

“It's building up connections with families, reuniting with children, and just building that whole environment up instead of just going from one place to the other where it feels like everyone is stacked on top of each other,” said Joseph Cruz.

Cruz says even with 30 more spots, Next Step still has a waitlist.
He says there just isn’t enough recovery housing in the state to help all those in need.

“If we can make somewhere a safe environment, we can start building a safer community, we can start doing that. I get anywhere from three to seven phone calls a day from people who need help finding somewhere to go,” he said.

Next Step Recovery Housing received a $375,000 grant from the Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership to open the facility. This facility is the first recovery housing to be funded by opioid settlement dollars in the state.

“Along with trying to slow down the overdose deaths in our state, it gives people that come in here, a chance for hope—a chance for recovery,” said Kirk Lane, the director of the Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership.

The ARORP is the organization helping disseminate money from the national opioid settlement awarded to Arkansas cities and counties.
The state has received more than $250 million with some settlements still pending.

Arkansas was one of the first states to receive and start spending money from the opioid recovery partnership.

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