Approaching Addiction, Trauma, and Housing Insecurity, Spiritually

A reflection on the Recovery Café Network’s Guiding Principles by Aaron Guldenschuh-Gatten, Associate Executive Director of Recovery Café Lexington and Kate’s Place Recovery Café Lexington is a member of the Recovery Café Network. Our membership in this larger community of Cafés provides us with meaningful support and allows us to engage in our work through […]

Read the full post >>

From Dungeon to Beach Café—Creating Embracing and Healing Spaces

by Michael Schut, Communications Manager From the resort town of Daytona Beach, to big-city Seattle, to rural counties in Indiana and Washington, the attitudes are strikingly similar and familiar: the lives of those who come to Recovery Cafés don’t matter so much. And so the physical spaces—to the specifics of the carpet, the paint, the […]

Read the full post >>

You Are Loved: Prom, Roller Skates, and Holiday Parties

by Michael Schut, Communications Manager, Recovery Café Network Just talking with Naketa, over Zoom even, is a joyful experience—which makes sense for someone who says she couldn’t believe she would be getting paid to “love on people.” Naketa serves as the Coordinator for Recovery Café Kokomo (Indiana). Her gratitude and joy for her work influences […]

Read the full post >>

Sanctuary: Recovery Café Jefferson County

by Michael Schut, Communications Manager, Recovery Café Network Recovery Café Jefferson County, located in the small town of Port Townsend, Washington, opened at noon. Community members gradually arrived, checked in with Maura at the front desk, and began to find their seats at the tables spread through the light-filled space. At 12:30 Brian, the Café’s […]

Read the full post >>

Miracles: Doing the Next Right Thing

by Aaron Guldenschuh-Gatten, Recovery Café Lexington’s Assistant Executive Director  Chanukah is the Jewish winter (in the northern hemisphere) Festival of Lights, celebrated over eight days. The word Chanukah means dedication. Chanukah commemorates the rededication of the ancient sanctuary in Jerusalem. After an oppressive regime desecrated and vandalized the Temple, a group of committed Jews retook […]

Read the full post >>

Regaining What is Lost: Recovery Reflections

“We all need recovery from anything that blocks our capacity to love.” Recovery Café cofounder Killian Noe Recovery is “the regaining of…something lost or taken away.” That’s one of the definitions Google offers. That could mean regaining a house after a flood; saplings after a storm; a neighborhood after an inferno; a nation after tyranny. […]

Read the full post >>

In Each of Us is Both Great Hurt and Great Love

by Founder Killian Noe “To love; it is what matters. It is why we were created.” Leo Tolstoy The Recovery Café Network recently held one of our “All Network Conversations.” These conversations provide space for us to get to know each other more deeply while reflecting on topics relevant to our common mission. This time […]

Read the full post >>

Beauty, Radical Hospitality, and Pronoun Pins: Celebrating RC Lexington and Evaluation Visits!

by Mike Schut, Communications Manager Recovery Cafés hold certain core beliefs as foundational. Beliefs and practices that become brick and mortar, that become a front desk and a warm welcome. Beliefs and practices that help you know, when you walk in, that you’re in a familiar place: a Recovery Café.  One of those core beliefs […]

Read the full post >>