MILFORD – Bradford Volz is reaching out to the community, and he hopes those struggling with addition or those in recovery will reach out to him as well.

Volz, who is the board president of the Addiction Recovery Coalition of New Hampshire, founded in 2015, announced that a new community recovery center will open at 180 Elm St. in Milford soon. The center will be located in the old courthouse building.

Initially, the ribbon cutting for the event was slated for May 1, but with the COVID-19 pandemic, that date has been pushed out, pending Gov. Chris Sununu’s possible stay-at-home order extension.

Volz said that ARC was created by a group of concerned citizens, and out of that group, they were able to open a men’s recovery residence in Hancock, New Hampshire, on a 200-acre farm.

It was a success, but sadly closed due to financial issues with the landlord as well as general upkeep, which proved to be too unmanageable.

“We shifted focus to the Souhegan Valley,” he said. “Being part of several different organizations in Milford, including C.A.S.T. – Community Action for Safe Teams – it kept coming up over and over, as to where does a friend go, where does a family member go, to find out where resources are available in the area?”

A decision was made that rather sit on the sidelines, ARC decided to do something about the situation and open a community recovery center in Milford. While that center is not open yet, the phone and email are activated and those dealing with recovery can call 603-554-8142 or contact ARC at recover@arch.org.

With the help of Andrea Kokko, of Kokko Realty, Volz was shown a number of properties. He was able to secure a location through Mark Prolman Realty.

“Mark was just incredible in helping me out,” Volz said. “We had a huge group of volunteers came in and helped us with painting and everything. The Milford business community has been great. County Stores with paint, Brendan McKay gave us all new appliances, Greg Ikerd Services and Milford Lumber outfitted us with a new kitchen and Mike Cardoza did the flooring. We’ve been very fortunate.”

Volz said the new operation is not a residence, but rather a resource center for those in recovery or struggling with addiction. He added that if someone came in who needed additional help, they would assess that on a case-by-case basis.

“It would depend on what their mental health and physical condition is,” he said. “If they are in a mental health crisis, if there is a threat of self-harm, or something like that, that’s a 911 call. We’ll be linked in with a lot of the different hospitals, including Farnum Center, in Manchester. If we can’t get a room for someone someplace, then it would be one of the safe stations in the area where they could be further evaluated.”

Volz, who has been in long-term recovery himself — it will be five years this August — was on the board of directors with Reality Check, a youth education and prevention organization in Jaffrey. Prior to that, he served 32 years in the U.S. military and the federal government.

“While I was on that board, we were able to purchase a home and open up a recovery center there,” he said. “It’s doing fantastically to this day. I’m no longer on that board — my 1 ½ years were up, so I’ve refocused my efforts on the Souhegan Valley.”

Ultimately, Volz hopes the new center will bring attention to the disease of addiction.

“We’re hoping this center in Milford becomes a desired location where individuals can come together and create peer-to-peer support,” he said, “and peer-driven advocacy to create solutions among recovery. Milford is like the hub of the Souhegan Valley. It’s where my AA home groups are. And there’s nothing else here.”

Volz did cite Gates Recovery Center in New Ipswich but other than that, a person would have to travel to Nashua, Manchester or Keene. Other than 12-step programs in Milford, there isn’t a center. And things got even tougher for some, as their situations were compounded by COVID-19. Self-isolation is not a friend to one in recovery or fighting for recovery.

“Personally, I couldn’t even imagine quitting something right now” he said.

“Self-isolation is a huge issue and concern to a lot of people when they’re new in recovery or trying to get over their addiction issues. But there is a huge virtual world that has popped up since COVID-19. In almost every AA and other types of structured meetings have been available through Zoom or in other ways.”

Just in the local area, Volz said there are a dozen meetings every single day, where local people can get help dealing with their issues through peer support.

“Several other organizations and me, have stepped up to create some of these,” he said. “The area AA groups and others that ran meetings, took it over from there.”

Newsletter