Salem community center aims to be a “functional family” for people in recovery

Christina Korkow remembers one man who wouldn’t make eye contact with her when he first came to Salem’s Recovery Outreach Community Center.

After several years, he started meeting her gaze and making small talk. It turned out the two of them shared a birthday, albeit a couple of years apart. 

“Pretty soon he’s going to the groups, pretty soon he’s getting into housing and now he’s been successfully housed for years,” Korkow said. “Pretty soon he’s writing poems about ROCC and sharing them at our annual event.”

Looking back, Korkow, ROCC’s executive director, called it a privilege to be involved in his journey.

Moments of personal connection define the ROCC, which has served the Salem area since 2007 as a community center and safe place for people in recovery and seeking help with addiction, mental illness, trauma and homelessness.

Formerly located on Northeast Silverton Road, the Salem center moved last Christmas Eve to 1190 Broadway St. N.E., the former home of Barrel & Keg bottle shop. That move came as Oregon contended with a soaring number of overdose deaths and lawmakers hammered out changes to Oregon’s drug decriminalization law intended to push more people into treatment.

The new ROCC location makes the drop-in center “more accessible to the folks who need community,” Korkow said. The number of people walking in the door more than doubled after the move, and the center now serves 60 to 90 people daily.

When people walk into the center, staff members greet them with cheerful familiarity, whether it’s their first or fiftieth time at ROCC. People can sit and chat at tables around the room or work on the computers, which are free for anyone to use. Some people even bring their dogs or cats along when visiting the center.

ROCC occupies a unique spot in the landscape of treatment services offered in Salem.

They don’t provide licensed therapists or medication to aid in recovery. Instead, the peer-run center is modeled as a supportive family. Everyone on staff, including Korkow, has experienced healing from the challenges people walk in the door with.

“A lot of us came from a family that was really dysfunctional and so we have modeled this place like a functional family, where we’re building relationships,” Korkow said. ROCC gives people a chance to discuss personal experiences while also having fun and celebrating the good things. 

Celebrations and parties give people “memories that didn’t involve craziness or alcohol or drugs,” Korkow said. “When I was a kid, all I knew was, when everybody’s happy is when they’re smoking and drinking and that’s when people are smiling and having a good time, until they didn’t.”

Korkow has seen the need for treatment services increase over the seven years she has worked at ROCC. The Covid pandemic “changed the scene” as traditional health care providers had to close down or were overwhelmed dealing with the pandemic. That made community services, like ROCC, more visible to the government and those in health care, Korkow said. 

In 2020, PacificSource, the Oregon Health Plan provider for Marion and Polk counties, began a contract with ROCC, allowing it to grow significantly. Around 80% of ROCC’s funding now comes from the contract. 

The Salem drop-in center on Broadway Street hosts fun events like game night, karaoke and chair yoga along with trauma support, emotional awareness and recovery-specific groups. 

The drop-in center is open six days a week from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., and Wednesdays from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. 

The groups are led by staff peer support specialists who are trained in helping those going through mental health or addiction treatment. 

Many services are also available at the ROCC’s Dallas and Mill City locations. The Dallas center operates from a house donated to ROCC by Polk County Corrections, Korkow said, and is a unique location by virtue of having laundry machines and a shower. 

Korkow said that the three centers combined see close to 950 people per year. 

On Aug. 12, ROCC will take people to Silver Falls State Park for a picnic and barbecue. In January this year, ROCC threw a birthday party for everyone at the center with Caesar the No Drama Llama as an honored guest. Previously, the program rented a theater for all three centers to come together for a movie and pizza night. 

“Everybody gets this idea that recovery’s so serious, but it’s life,” Korkow said. “There’s a lot of fun and happiness to have.” 

According to Korkow, about half of people who participate in ROCC’s services are housing insecure or unhoused. She says ROCC also works with many people who are in supportive or transitional housing.  

Mark Parrish, co-manager of the Salem drop-in center, said ROCC provides computers and Wi-Fi, because “everyone needs to check their email,” regardless of housing or recovery status.

Outside of weekly group meetings, ROCC provides people with food and emergency clothing and, depending on temperature extremes, functions as a cooling or warming center.

ROCC partners with local nonprofits and county resources to provide its services. First Free Methodist Church lends its showers every Wednesday. 

“When we go there, you got a lot of the church folks that show up with baked goods and with clothes,” Korkow said. “They’ll sit there in fellowship with them while they’re there during shower time which is really special.” 

In 2023, after a few years of growth, the organization spent close to $840,000 to provide its variety of services. 

Almost two-thirds of ROCC’s annual budget goes to pay its employees, which include Korkow and a group of 20 facilitators, peer support specialists and recovery mentors. In addition to staff, ROCC has a volunteer board of directors.

Despite ROCC’s current deficit of about $150,000, Korkow said they never turn anyone away.

“It would really be nice if the city of Salem would support organizations like ours, or the city of Dallas or the city of Mill City,” said Korkow. “Because if we weren’t here, where would these folks go?”

Korkow describes the organization as a “gap-filler” that helps people locate other local organizations or resources. She said ROCC staff can accompany people to meetings after being released from prison, assist in finding housing or attend addiction meetings. 

“We can be with you every day,” Korkow said. “We’re here to come alongside and help you over those hurdles.” 

Contact reporter Madeleine Moore: [email protected].

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