With fentanyl access on the rise, one Denver recovery community is brewing a safe space
Inside a coffee shop just blocks away from the University of Denver is where people are sharing stories openly with the fear of shame.
"There's a lot of people that come in here with some pretty rough stories," said Julie Hoelsken.
Hoelsken volunteers once a week at Free Café, which is a part of the Free Recovery Community. It started in 2018 as a safe space for those experiencing addiction or loved ones of those going through addiction.
"My daughter is one of them," said Hoelsken. "I'm a loved one of an addict, but I'm also the adult child of an alcoholic, so I participate in some adult children of alcoholic meetings here."
Others, like Jacob Merion, have discovered Free Recovery Community in the last few years while continuing their journey with recovery.
"I haven't used any substances in the last 10 years," said Jacob Merion. "Before that time period, I was living on the streets of Pueblo. My family had kind of given up hope."
However, here, hope is not just being served through coffee.
"Our tagline is, we don't do shame, because shame kills. Shame kicks it underground," said Ryan Canaday.
Canaday is a pastor and Executive Director of Free Recovery Community. He has used his own addiction recovery journey, which start back when he quit drinking in 2013, to propel others to feel confident in sharing their own stories.
"I had all this shame around it, fear around it, and about 3 years into my recovery, I went public with my story," he said. "What I saw is some many people were dealing with issues of addiction.
Inside this space, Canaday and his family help host addiction related events, and serve up food and coffee in an area where people going through the same experiences can talk with one another.
"We see new life. We see the joys of recovery and life given back, and we see death," said Canaday.
He says fentanyl overdoses are now leading the cause of more and more funerals they have hosted here over the last few years.
"It's not an issue we can hide behind. It's not an issue we can pretend is not happening. It's happening in every community, in the suburbs, in the city. So, no one is exempt from this," he said.
Fentanyl is now the leading cause of death for Americans between 18 and 45 years old, according to a new report by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
On Wednesday, the DEA announced more fentanyl pills were seized within their Rocky Mountain Field Division in 2023 than in any other previous year. 3.4 million pills were seized, which is about six times more than the DEA seized two years ago. Colorado led the region with more than 2.6 million pills seized in the state.
"If we don't talk about it, then it just stays underground. So, we talk about it a lot here. We encourage families to talk about it with their kids at the dinner table. We encourage individuals to talk about it," said Canaday. "The more we can talk about it, the more we can be aware it's happening and get to some sort of solution."
Those who have chosen to open up about addiction inside the Free Recovery Center say it has improved their lives.
"Often times we feel isolated. We feel alone. We feel disconnected, and for me these places help me feel like I belong again," said Merion.
"Last week it was seven days clean from fentanyl, [or] 30 days clean," said Canaday. "Someone stood up last week and almost had a year clean and she's been coming every week."
While increasing access to fentanyl is still an ongoing concern, Canaday hopes they can continue help people tackle their own battles and curb the stigma of addiction by helping as many people as possible free themselves from the shame.
"They're loved, they're not alone and were here for you," he said.
More information about Free Recovery Community can be found at FreeRecoveryCommunity.com. You can also find treatment and help through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration at findtreatment.gov.
