Awakening Recovery - A Non-Profit Structured Recovery Home in West La

06/01/2026

Addiction isolates. Recovery reconnects.

Our Co-founding Exec. Dir. David Vandervelde recently wrote about brotherhood, sisterhood, and the kind of community people need when they are rebuilding their lives after addiction.

This is at the heart of long-term recovery: belonging, accountability, family repair, service, and the daily practice of learning how to live differently.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/brotherhood-sisterhood-end-isolation-recovery-david-van-der-velde-pzttc

05/30/2026

Addiction recovery does not end when the immediate crisis is stabilized. The long middle of recovery — rebuilding stability, community, purpose, employment, family relationships, and a life that can hold — is often the least funded and least understood part of the continuum of care.

Our co-founder David Vandervelde recently shared this reflection on why addiction policy needs to better recognize and support that missing middle.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/david-van-der-velde-8224a38_in-addiction-policy-we-have-become-much-activity-7466432803786625024-PXeK?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAF-8toBpwanJrFGNkY7FxWjRjEeBfm1jTA

05/17/2026

Teen drinking is down nationally, and that is real progress. But lower substance use does not necessarily mean young people are more connected, resilient, or prepared for adulthood.

This piece from Awakening Recovery Co-Founding Executive Director David Vandervelde looks at what declining teen drinking may reveal about isolation, mental health, compensating behaviors, and the need for more holistic support as adolescents move into young adulthood.

Read the full article here:

Axios recently reported something genuinely encouraging: today’s teenagers are drinking far less than previous generations. The piece also points to a more complicated possibility — that lower drinking may be connected not only to healthier choices, but also to the fact that teenagers are spendi...

05/14/2026

Drawing from the experience of long-term recovery, this article by our co-founding Exec. Dir. David Vandervelde explores why addiction, co-occurring mental health challenges, and human vulnerability should not be treated as edge cases in conversations about designing policy around AI alignment and the future of work. They reveal something essential about what people need to heal, rebuild, participate, and thrive.

As artificial intelligence moves deeper into the economy, the national conversation is understandably focused on skills: whether workers can learn the tools, schools can adapt, employers can retrain people fast enough, and our country can remain competitive as AI reshapes work, productivity, nationa

05/06/2026

At Awakening Recovery, we believe people need more than a roof to rebuild their lives from addiction. They need structure, community, accountability, compassion, and time.

David’s new article reflects on why long-term recovery housing should be part of California’s broader response to homelessness, addiction, and recovery.

California’s homelessness debate is entering a new phase. A recent CalMatters article on the 2026 governor’s race makes clear that homelessness will be one of the central issues facing California’s next governor.

05/03/2026

We are grateful to celebrate our Overnight Mgr. and alumni Eli L.’s 8th sober birthday! - “Eight years ago, I chose a different path . A path of freedom from the chains of addiction. That day I didn’t just become sober, I became a new man and Free.” - Eli L. / Graduate

05/01/2026

A new one-year study on surrender, spirituality, and long-term addiction recovery raises an important question: what helps someone move from external compliance to internal willingness?

This reflection from our Co-Founding Executive Director, David Vandervelde, explores why lasting recovery requires more than rules, structure, or short-term stabilization — it requires a deeper transformation of body, mind, relationships, purpose, and spirit.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/recovery-requires-more-than-compliance-david-van-der-velde-8bz9c

04/24/2026

A recent analysis of federal survey data found that hallucinogen use disorder among teens ages 12–17 increased by 41% between 2023 and 2024, rising from 59,000 to 83,000 young people. The same analysis estimated that 405,000 adolescents used a hallucinogen in 2024.

That should concern all of us.

As conversations about psychedelics become more common in culture, medicine, and media, we need to be careful about the message young people are receiving. Substances that may be discussed in adult clinical or research settings can sound very different to teenagers still forming their identity, judgment, mental health, and sense of belonging.

At Awakening Recovery, we believe prevention and recovery require more than information alone. Young people and families need honest conversations, safe relationships, supportive communities, and real pathways to healing.

Recovery is not just about stopping harmful substance use. It is about helping people build lives rooted in purpose, connection, accountability, and hope.

As a community, we need to hold two truths at the same time: research and clinical nuance matter, and normalization without strong guardrails can put vulnerable young people at risk.

A recent analysis of federal NSDUH data found that hallucinogen use disorder among 12–17-year-olds increased significantly between 2023 and 2024. That should get our attention. The public conversation around psychedelics has moved very quickly. In some circles, these substances are now discussed a...

04/24/2026

SAMHSA’s recent Dear Colleague letters on MAT/MOUD and SAHHSA grantees reflects a more balanced recovery conversation — one we believe is badly needed.

Medications such as methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone can be lifesaving and should remain available when clinically appropriate. That should not be controversial.

But SAMHSA also makes an equally important point: medication alone is not a comprehensive recovery model.

People recovering from substance use disorder often need much more than symptom stabilization. They need safe housing, community, accountability, employment, family repair, spiritual and emotional growth, and a real pathway into self-sufficiency and belonging.

That is where recovery housing matters.

At Awakening Recovery, we believe recovery should be individualized, dignified, and grounded in long-term transformation. For some people, medication may be an important part of that pathway. For others, the goal may include tapering or discontinuation when clinically appropriate, with strong recovery capital and support in place.

The key is not ideology. The key is integrity.

A healthy system should not force every person into the same pathway. It should provide access to medication when needed, while also investing in the recovery supports that help people rebuild their lives.

SAMHSA’s letter affirms what many of us have seen firsthand: lasting recovery is not only about reducing risk. It is about helping people become well, connected, responsible, and free.

https://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/dear-colleague-letter-mat-moud-guidance.pdf

https://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/dear-colleague-letter-upated-hr-funding-guidance.pdf

04/22/2026

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/we-want-people-trust-recovery-have-raise-standard-david-van-der-velde-mm7yc/?trackingId=YjEp%2FMj%2BQzKXaslL0IQCkQ%3D%3D

There is a side of the addiction treatment field we don’t talk about enough. Not the breakthroughs.