Recovery Cafés matter
because community is one of the most significant contributors across multiple dimensions of human wellbeing, yet our access to both collective care and connection is diminishing.
Recovery Cafés offer a safe, loving, healing community. Whatever you’re healing from and wherever you are on the journey, you’re not alone here. At Recovery Cafés, healing happens together.
Our Impact
Over the last decade, our Network has built a thriving movement of belonging and transformation. From 2016 to 2025, here’s what we achieved together.
Numbers only tell a small part of our story.
90+
Recovery Cafés across U.S., Canada, and Virgin Islands
51,689
Café Members recovering through meaningful connections
946,412
individuals engaged with a Café community
95,176
Recovery Circles where weekly peer support takes place
“In today’s world, so many of us are isolated, lonely and struggling. I wish there was a Recovery Café in every city—a place for all of us to be known and loved. It works for Members, staff and volunteers. It heals all of us.”
Dr. Vicki Allen MD
Former Recovery Café Board Member and supporter since 2009
“Loneliness is far more than just a bad feeling—it harms both individual and societal health.”
Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, 19th and 21st Surgeon General of the United States
In 2024, 48.4 million people in the U.S. lived with a substance use disorder, yet only 1 in 5 received the care they needed. Millions more are navigating mental health conditions, homelessness, reentry, aging, grief, and other life challenges, often without adequate support.
At the same time, the U.S. Surgeon General warns we are facing an epidemic of loneliness, with 1 in 2 adults experiencing disconnection. For many in need of recovery, this lack of connection makes healing feel out of reach.
But, the research is clear: we need each other to heal.
- Strong social support reduces recurrence of use and increases treatment retention for people recovering from substance use.
- For people returning from incarceration, robust social networks can support successful reentry.
- Social support is also linked to better emotional regulation and improved mental health outcomes.
- Particularly among older adults, strong social connection is associated with better health and longer, healthier lives.
Recovery Cafés create communities where people are deeply known and deeply loved. They recognize the many challenges people carry and offer the loving accountability that makes it possible to try new skills, practice different behaviors, and grow in one’s recovery journey.