Deep Recovery Comes to Transitional Living

One a Saturday last summer, our own Josh Trott set up and manned the table at the Rochester Revival Day of Hope. There was music and food and lots of ministries were represented there. Our table happened to be next to Lydia's House of Hope. A transitional living program for women. It didn't take long for Jenny, their program coordinator, to find us and pick up a workbook to look through. Brimming with enthusiasm, she returned and said, "We need to get you guys into Lydia's House!"

So, our first course at Lydia's House began in early January 2025. Led by our volunteers Josh and Dot, five women met every week for twelve weeks. It was a wonderful experiment. Getting DR into a program like this was an important goal. But there were questions. Would people who were required to take it get as much out of it as others? Would it be as effective? it was. And more so!

Josh came to our very first DR course at Trinity and soaked it up like a sponge! He rigorously applied everything he learned and returned for every single course since. Eventually he became a co-leader, helping to facilitate communication and learning to conduct a class. He worked side by side with Fr. Matt and eventually started leading our weekly support group. He also attended leaders' training and attended a three-day Intensive. Over the summer of 2024, he led an eight week "short" course. So, it was natural to have him run the course at Lydia's House. And he had help. Dot Montoya had attended her first course in 2023. She had been a licensed social worker and knew the recovery community well. After her first course, after telling everyone how much it had done for her she exclaimed, "Why didn't anyone teach me this before!" Since then, she attended two more full courses and attended a basic leader's course as well. She was the perfect complement for Josh. They teamed up to lead the course for five out of the 15-20 women in the house.

At graduation, the girls got to give their testimony and Fr. Matt has an opportunity to ask them what the course did for them. They each said it was transformational and the best recovery program they had ever participated in. One of them explained that she had been in other rehabs and how she was required to do 12-Step based programs, but none of them really helped. The approach used always felt forced. She told how the DR was different. How the invitational nature of the material, and the adopt what you can approach made her feel free to really engage in the material. For her, it was life changing! Another woman explained how she appreciated understanding how the things she learned were based on science, not just religion, and how this could rewire her brain. She was overflowing with enthusiasm. All the women shared how the course had made a big difference and that they wanted to continue to meet and were hopeful to do the course again.

Now, Josh is planning to return to do a follow up, with a staff member of Lydia's House present. Plans are underway to provide another opportunity for the women of Lydia's House.