Integrity House Helps People Rebuild Lives After Addiction

Steve Adubato and Robert Budsock, President & CEO of Integrity House, discuss Integrity House’s mission to not only provide individuals the opportunity to rebuild their lives after addiction, but also eliminate the stigma preventing many from seeking the proper treatment they need and deserve.

6/23/18 #3116

Excerpt:

"We're pleased to welcome Mr. Robert J. Budsock, President and CEO of a great organization called Integrity House, celebrating its 50th anniversary. Integrity House is all about? So Integrity House is a non-profit, community based organization, that was founded in 1968, with the mission of providing opportunities for individuals to reclaim their lives. We are the largest licensed residential addiction provider in the state of New Jersey. We have a total of 420 residential addiction treatment beds. Hmm. And those beds are in our Newark and Secaucus campuses. In addition to that, we have eight licensed outpatient sites, and those sites are in Essex County, Hudson County, Morris County, Ocean County... And in Ocean County, right? And in Ocean County, down at Toms River. And then additionally, and most recently, as of October of 2017, Integrity House became the third party operator of addiction services at New Bridge Medical Center, which is in Paramus, up in Bergen County. Let me ask you this. The opioid epidemic in this nation, was not around, obviously, when you guys started. It is just destroying the lives of so many. How has it changed what you do everyday and who you do it for? Yeah. Well, I could tell you, back in 1968... I wasn't around in 1968, I've been with Integrity House for 33 years, but that back in 1968, the founder of Integrity House started with a single house which was in the Lincoln Park section of Newark, New Jersey. It was a year after the Newark uprising... Right. ...and he identified a need within the Newark community to treat opiate addiction, and here were other addictions also, alcoholism, cocaine, but primarily opiate addiction. And he identified that need in the inner city. And we started with those very humble beginnings, with a single house with six clients, and we had a founder who had a passion and a vision for just helping people. Right. And helping people put their lives back together. And over the years, we have actually... you know, we've professionalized our services. We have licensed staff. We use evidence-based practices. We still have that home-like atmosphere at Integrity House. Right. Where... when it's a residential treatment, or even an outpatient treatment, we'd like to create a very warm, welcoming family environment, but we've added these evidence-based practices, specifically medication assisted treatment. Research has proven that addiction is a disease of the brain. Yeah let's talk about the mental health part of it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So research has shown that addiction is a disease of the brain. So we have addiction that impacts the brain, we also have mental illness that impacts the brain. Probably when we talk..."