Community Impact: Elliot Bags

Community Impact

At Royal Life Centers, we believe in being of service to the communities we call home by fighting addiction. Our desire to be of service to those struggling with addiction is restless. We have become pillars of hope in the neighborhoods we call our own, by providing help through various forms of community service. One of the ways we get involved to actively fight the stigma surrounding addiction is by showing our care and concern for those most affected by the grips of addiction: the homeless population.

Elliot Bags

Our dedication to lifting up community members around us has snowballed into a project inspired by one of our guests, whose life was unfortunately taken due to addiction. Elliot B. was one of guests who had a big impact on all of us here at Royal Life Centers. After Elliot’s heart-breaking loss, his mother worked with us to create a lasting impression on those who are struggling with addiction like her son once was. This idea for lasting compassion and help for the sick and suffering addicts in the community launched the creation of our Elliot Bag project.

What Are Elliot Bags?

Elliot Bags are essentially care packages for those in the community who are suffering from homelessness, and homeless individuals who are suffering from addiction. Our Elliot Bag project goes hand-in-hand with our homeless sponsorship program, because we offer addiction treatment to Elliot Bag recipients. Helping those whose lives are affected by addiction is our passion, and so we strive to make a difference to the communities we serve with everything that we do.

What’s in an Elliot Bag?

An Elliot Bag is a care package that we personally hand out to homeless individuals in the community. Inside an Elliot Bag are essentials for living, including: food, water, a blanket, a poncho, and hygiene products like deodorant, floss, a toothbrush and toothpaste. Our mission is to provide as many people in the homeless community with help, lessening the challenges of homelessness with Elliot Bags.

Community Scholarships

Along with Elliot Bags, we offer two people in the community who are homeless and living with an alcohol or substance use disorder a full scholarship to our addiction treatment centers per month. We know that those who are homeless, have little to no access to addiction treatment— so we feel responsible in helping out those who cannot get help for their chronic substance abuse and mental health.

Homelessness

In a study published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, it was reported that more than a third of the homeless population is struggling with chronic substance abuse issues. Homeless affects such a large percentage of people in the United States, and it is truly our position to do everything we can to help homeless people get back on their feet.

In Washington state, there are 22,304 people who are homeless. Washington is one of the top ten states holding the highest populations of homelessness. 60% of all homeless individuals in Washington state have no shelter. In Arizona, about 9,865 people are experiencing homelessness. Over half of the homeless individuals in Arizona have no shelter of their own. In 2018, on a single night, over half a million people were experiencing homelessness in the United States. There are thousands of homeless individuals who are 25 years old and younger, who have no shelter in their homelessness. These statistics are excruciating for us at Royal Life Centers, and we are dedicated to making a difference in as many lives as we can.

Regardless of your situation, we believe if you are struggling with an alcohol or substance use disorder, you deserve addiction treatment. Because we are dedicated to helping our community in as many ways as possible, we provide addiction treatment to 72 homeless individuals each year, completely free of charge. Our devotion to service work in the homeless populations is only the start for our overall community service involvement.

Other Community Involvement

We continue to serve our communities by being of help anywhere we see an opening. Royal Life Centers regularly “adopts” local streets in the community to display our pride and civic responsibility. In adopting these streets, Royal Life Centers performs litter clean-ups and restoration of any vandalism, to keep our communities beautiful.

In addition to street adoptions, Royal Life Centers participates in many trash pick-up opportunities. We also provide our guests with the option of participating in community service with us, as we believe in the power of helping others and taking responsibility to serve the communities we are a part of. Our litter clean-up efforts are regular, as we think getting involved in the community has a positive impact on our guests.

Community Volunteering

Research states that volunteering can have a positive impact on your mental and physical well-being. Giving to others can reduce stress and even combat depression. When volunteering in groups, it creates powerful and positive social bonds, which is key to recovery. At Royal Life Centers, we volunteer to help those in need. The effect that your volunteer work has on those you are serving includes: increased self-esteem, disease management and acceptance, parenting skills, healthy behaviors, mental health, survival time, and improved relationships with health professionals.

Healing

Providing your time to a good cause is an esteem-able act that will provide healing in your recovery journey. Volunteering in your community will reduce stress and bring about a sense of community, which is a building block of recovery. Understanding that you are part of a bigger picture, but can still make a massive impact, is a very humbling and real experience. Real life experiences are crucial to the recovery process, and serving others less fortunate than yourself will provide you with an overwhelming sense of gratitude that you just can’t get from something like a support group. Treating your alcohol or substance use disorder doesn’t always have to look like intensive therapy within an addiction center setting, you can continue healing and bettering your recovery in ways that are outside of yourself.

Our Treatment

At Royal Life Centers, we offer programs that treat addiction in every stage of recovery. Our treatment programs were designed to follow guests through the stages of the recovery process, offering guidance and support through out each step of the way. At Royal Life Centers, we have both inpatient and outpatient treatment services. We provide individualized, comprehensive addiction treatment at all of our treatment facilities. In our rehab centers, each guest will collaborate with their case manager and primary therapist to develop a treatment plan specifically tailored to meet their individual needs and goals. Royal Life Centers uses proven effective methods of addiction treatment, and only the best practices. We provide intensive therapies for substance abuse treatment, including: individual therapy sessions, group therapy, behavioral therapies, adventure therapy, activity therapy, and equine therapy.

Our Programs

Royal Life Centers offers treatment options including: medical detox, a residential inpatient program, a partial hospitalization program (PHP), an intensive outpatient program (IOP), an outpatient program (OP), sober living and graduate housing. In all of our short term and long term treatment programs, Royal Life Centers offers volunteering opportunities for our guests to get involved in the community. We believe in the power of being active members of a community, and giving back to it. If you or someone you know is struggling with an addiction, please reach out to our addiction specialists at 888-559-5109. Our team of addiction specialists make themselves available to take your call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Because We Care.

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