Haven of Hope Launches Program to Fight Addiction

Dekalb County’s Haven of Hope has launched a new program to help those struggling with addiction.

The program is designed for addicts to receive help battling drug and alcohol addiction. Haven of Hope Licensed Mental Health Counselor Tena Cope said addiction runs rampant in the Upper Cumberland. Cope said the program provides a great opportunity for addicts to talk about their addiction.

“A lot of people are afraid to talk about their problems,” Cope said. “Because they are afraid that people will judge them, but in this room, everybody is struggling with something similar, the problems are similar, the circumstances may be different.”

Cope said the DeKalb County Recovery Court sends addicts to programs to receive help, instead of sending them to jail. The issue, there were no programs within DeKalb County. Cope said Haven of Hope had concerns and created the program to help out.

“What they found was, that they were referring out people a lot to different counties,” Cope said. “We had nothing in this county that was actually like this, and we decided to try to develop a program here so they wouldn’t have to go to another county cause even though you might have an addiction does not mean you don’t have to work or don’t have to do your daily responsibilities, so that took time to get to another county and it interfered with their work schedules.”

The program is not strictly for DeKalb County. Cope said it’s for anyone in the Upper Cumberland.

“It’s open to people who need the help and if Smithville is closer than say Cookeville,” Cope said. “then of course we are willing to do the assessment and see if they meet the criteria.”

Cope said the program meets Monday through Tuesday of each week from 3:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M. The most common addictions are alcohol, marijuana, and opioids. If you need help overcoming addiction, you can call Haven of Hope at (615) 597-4673.