05/26/2026
There is a moment in every recovery journey when something shifts. For Michael Tillem, Co-Founder and CEO, it arrived in the rain, on his knees, feeling more alone than he ever had in his life.
"I hit my knees crying like I had never cried before," Michael shares. "It was a soulful cry. And I said, 'God, if you just keep me clean, I will spend the rest of my life being of service to others.' At that moment, I bought into it a hundred percent."
That moment became the foundation for everything Journey House Recovery Center was built to be.
This May, as we recognize Mental Health Awareness Month, we are reminded that healing is rarely just one thing. For most of the people we serve, it is substance use and mental health and trauma and family, all at once. They deserve care that sees the whole picture.
As Michael describes it: "My disease lives in my head. My recovery lives in my heart. And that is what I pull from when my head starts telling me things."
Co-Founder and COO Kimberly Braine-Tillem puts it this way: "Everyone has value and everyone wants to be accepted, loved, seen, and cherished. When someone walks through that door, that is what we want them to feel."
That is the standard Journey House Recovery Center holds itself to every single day, from clinical excellence at Journey House Behavioral Health to genuine compassion across all of our services, together, for every person who walks through the door.
This Mental Health Awareness Month, you do not have to choose between getting help for your mental health and getting help for your substance use. You deserve care that addresses both.
