609 W Galena St
Butte, MT 59701
(406)640-8069
info@buttespirit.org
Butte SPIRIT Center provides a safe, peer supported and clinically licensed transitional living environment for people in early recovery from substance use disorder.
Statement:
The Butte SPIRIT Home is a state licensed ASAM Level 3.1 substance use disorder (SUD) recovery home in Butte that serves up to 8 men at a time with case management, peer support, and clinical counseling. We were founded by people in recovery, for people in recovery, and our entire staff is made up of people with lived experience in overcoming SUD.
How we help:
Within the Butte SPIRIT Home, we don’t focus on managing our residents, we work to curate an environment that supports Recovery. All of our staff are people in long-term recovery, who can share directly from their experience of how to live life sober. When asked what they most appreciated about the SPIRIT Home, one Resident responded, “Encouragement. I have never felt controlled or coerced, not looked down upon. I have only felt encouraged and that this facility is really here to back me up in my Recovery.” This means that we have zero tolerance for drug and alcohol use; we provide Case Management to get our residents the resources they need to work towards independent living; we encourage mentorship from our Peer Support Specialist; and we assist Residents in working through a Treatment Plan with our Licensed Addictions Counselor.
Another resident’s story is transcribed from an interview below:
“I started drinking at an early age and became quite frequent with it in high school. I graduated, but I really enjoyed the party scene. It was fine for me back then, it was a a way for me to escape feelings that I had from early childhood trauma. That was one way that I dealt with it, seeking attention and approval from peers and others, and I got a lot of that. I was around 21 years old, and I experimented with methamphetamine and my life was a roller coaster ever since that day. I committed a couple of pretty heinous crimes in 2005; armed robbery, strong armed robbery and felony forgeries. [I was] careless, reckless, and using the same method with the dope, escaping reality, escaping feelings I never dealt with as a child, my childhood trauma. It was fun to begin with, turning into a very addictive habit that cost me freedom, cost me relationships, cost me a lot, and caused me mental, emotional, and physical distress.
I never was willing to talk about certain things that affected me as a child, even in those environments. [Participation] was just a way for me to, to get back out [of incarceration]. I did have hopes of a better way of living, but because I never got involved with any recovery and never took any advice from the [treatment programs] as far as getting a sponsor and going to regular meetings, I was never able to develop good friendships, healthy friendships and healthy ways of living.
That’s a big difference today, I want it so bad that I’m finally at the end of the road, where the change is coming and it’s materializing because of my willingness to be open and honest about those thoughts and to trust others with them and not feel like they’re gonna judge me, or they’re gonna look at me as if I’m gonna act on them, but they’re just gonna encourage me to continue to not act on them and appreciate the fact that I’m willing to share about that.
I know that the SPIRIT House is a non-judgmental environment and it is zero tolerance, which I appreciate. We have rules and that we follow but it’s not only being honest with the people in the house but it’s most importantly being honest to myself today that feels really good.”