A NEW community service dedicated to helping addicts and the families of addicts opened its doors on Friday.
ACAR (Athy Community Addiction Response) is a completely voluntary run service managed by a group of people who have experienced addiction in some way in their own lives. Within the group there are recovered addicts, people who lived with addiction in their homes, or people who have witnessed it in the community and want to help.
A range of services went live on Friday from their offices at the Enterprise Centre, including counselling and therapy. ACAR is the first organisation outside of Dublin to have their own recovery coach.
The aim is to raise awareness regarding the dangers of substance misuse, to provide a range of information and act as a contact and referral point for relevant services.
“ACAR believes that supporting the individual and their family through addiction and giving them the tools to face life’s challenges enables them to become fully integrated into our community,” said manager of the centre Declan Nolan.
“We aim to reduce the harmful effects of substance misuse among individuals, families and wider community through one to one, group, various outreach and educational programmes.”
Back in 2011 the Kildare Leader Partnership, the South West Regional Drugs Task Force and the Lions Club ran an addictions course which then led to the establishment of two groups, The Family Support Group and ACAR.
“After a lot of planning, background research and further training we can now open our doors,” he added.
ACAR has already been dealing with people on a one-to-one basis through word of mouth but last Friday was the first day that they opened their doors on a wider scale in a bid to reach and help more people in the Kildare.
“We strongly believe in upholding the dignity and respect for individuals who may have otherwise been discriminated against due to the nature of the issues they are facing. We follow the community development principles of social justice, collective action, community empowerment and equality,” said Declan.
“We listen in a non judgmental and confidential manner with empathy to those seeking our support. ACAR believes in treating the needs of the client as they or their family member present and adapting to the change in needs as the client and family recover from addiction,” he said.
“We are very grateful to all in the community enterprise centre for all of their help.”
Based on the ground floor of the Enterprise Centre at Woodstock South Business Park ACAR offers a drop in and information service, counseling, holistic therapies, recovery coaching and personal empowerment.
They also run a HSE operated harm reduction clinic, family therapy for people aged eighteen and up, group therapy, one to one therapy and an outreach programme.
“We are the only service outside Dublin offering recovery coaching. We operate 10am to 1pm Monday to Friday, and are also aiming to begin opening on Saturdays.”
For further Information contact acarathy@gmail.com.
