‘Reintegrate into a socially distanced world’: Nonprofit plans resources podcast for addiction recovery

Founder of 10,000 Beds Jean Krisle, date and location unspecified | Photo from 10,000 Beds Facebook page, St George News / Cedar City News

CEDAR CITY — Cedar City-based nonprofit organization 10,000 Beds plans to use a grant to create a podcast focused on providing resources for individuals in addiction recovery who are transitioning out of treatment programs.

Photo illustration. | Photo by wildpixel/iStock/Getty Images Plus, St. George News

Alkermes, a pharmaceutical company, provided 10 grants to nonprofit organizations throughout the nation from its COVID-19 Relief Fund to help organizations address pandemic-related needs.

The podcast, called “On the Air 4 Recovery”, is scheduled to air by Aug. 1.

Jean Krisle, founder of 10,000 Beds, told Cedar City News the COVID-19 pandemic has affected her organization’s ability to provide resources directly to individuals transitioning out of treatment programs.

“Now, all of the sudden you’re going back into the world, you’re reentering society as a different person,” Krisle said. “It used to be that we could teach them to grocery shop and teach them to do their laundry; we could teach them how to have a job interview, we could teach them how to fill out an application. Now with COVID, they’re reentering a society that’s closed so it’s very, very challenging.”

Krisle said the pandemic has also affected the treatment programs.

“Treatment programs have had to change the way their clients transport to wherever they need to be, they’ve had to change their admissions processes, they’ve had to add the COVID-19 tests,” she said.

Krisle said as a national organization, when the pandemic began her first concern was being able to reach as many people as possible without being able to travel.

“I combined that desire to make sure we still reach our friends and families out there with the need for people in recovery to understand how to reintegrate into a socially distanced world – and that’s what the podcast is going to focus on,” Krisle said.

While the podcast may cover other aspects of addiction recovery, Krisle said her focus will be on providing an interactive podcast that serves as both a resource and a place to be heard.

There are so many opportunities to help people that are in recovery that are just being overlooked, and sometimes it’s just having a listening ear,” Krisle said. “Our goal is to make it interactive and helpful, not just to the person that’s in recovery but to their families.”

Krisle said she founded 10,000 Beds to be a resource for families and individuals who may not have many resources to receive the treatment they need, from a vetted treatment facility.

A candlelight vigil was held at Pioneer Park to remember those lost to the disease of addiction, while also supporting addiction recovery and awareness, St. George, Utah, April 20, 2016 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

“They don’t have the resources across the board – they don’t have financial resources, they’re not connected to people, they don’t even know what questions to ask,” Krisle said. “If we can be that resource for them on a podcast, that’s one check on my list of things I want to do.”

10,000 Beds partners with 200 treatment programs across the nation that donate at least one addiction treatment scholarship every year for individuals who are actively seeking help with addiction.

Krisle said these partnerships keep the average cost per person very low.

“We’re the only nationwide organization that is able to give away scholarships that are donated to us, so our overhead is low,” she said. When you donate a dollar to 10,000 Beds, it makes a huge difference. Our average cost is $500 per person.”

10,000 Beds has provided approximately $10 million in addiction treatment scholarships over three years.

More information about 10,000 Beds and the upcoming podcast can be found on the organization’s website.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2020, all rights reserved.

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