Our Mission, Vision, and Values
Mission
We are a community of refuge and healing for people in recovery.
Vision
To be an enlightened community where people in all walks of recovery are empowered to be their best selves.
Values
- Radical Hospitality – Radical Hospitality is our act of gracious, warm, and enduring welcome of all people to ensure a feeling of love and support within our community.
- Loving Accountability – Holding each other accountable to becoming our truest, best selves is the most loving thing we can do for each other.
- Champion for Recovery – We promote lifelong focus on empowering people to reach their full potential and maintain healthy life habits.
- Stewardship – We responsibly manage resources to honor and serve our stakeholders and deepen our impact in the community.
- Inclusive Community –Individuals from all backgrounds are valued and embraced with compassion, mutual respect, and dignity.
Our Challenge
Across the country, the need for substance use and mental health services is growing. SAMSHA (2021) reports that 70 million adults aged 18 or older perceived that they had substance use and/or mental health challenges.
Low-income, or unhoused individuals with mental health challenges are disproportionately affected. Some lose access to housing, employment, and healthcare services. Sustained recovery with community support can ease the burden of acquiring and sustaining vital resources.
Treatment options are limited and expensive, especially for individuals who are under or uninsured. What’s more, relapse is common even among those who are able to access treatment. Recovery is a life-long commitment that cannot be met by 30-day treatment programs. Where do you go on day 31?
Building a healthy life takes time. The National Institute of Health indicates that individuals in recovery from a substance use disorder need a foundation of at least two years of sobriety to ensure long-term recovery. Recovery Café Longmont supports individuals in these years and beyond as they rebuild their lives and break the cycle of substance use and mental health challenges.
The definition of recovery goes well beyond abstinence of substances; it is experienced as a bountiful “new life,” an ongoing process of growth, connection, and reclaiming the self. One common denominator in many of our members’ recovery journeys is isolation. The U.S. Surgeon General (2023) states that even prior to COVID-19, about half of Americans reported feelings of loneliness and the lack of social connection increases risk of premature death by more than 60%.
One connection at a time, Recovery Café Longmont is here to help people sustain whatever recovery they’ve worked so hard to achieve. We provide a community of support, accountability, and skill-building where people in all walks of recovery are empowered to be their best selves.
Our Work
Recovery Café Longmont was founded on the knowledge that the life of every human being is worthy of love and respect. Individuals interested in joining the Café are invited to become members. Membership signifies belonging – each member contributes to the life of the Café. We offer Radical Hospitality to our members, meeting them where they are.
The Café is a refuge for everyone in recovery. Each person’s recovery needs are unique, and we believe everyone is in recovery from something.
Recovery Café offers evidence-based recovery support and love. We walk alongside members as they discover ways to manage their mental and physical health, maintain sobriety, and build community. We see everyone as a person worthy of giving and receiving love. One connection at a time, our members gain the social capital that keeps us fueled in sustaining long term recovery.
Our History
In 2018, CENTRALongmont Presbyterian Church leadership became aware of the need for a place where individuals in recovery from various recovery challenges could find support, acceptance, and radical hospitality. This led them to the Recovery Café Network, developed from the remarkable success of Recovery Café, founded by Killian Noe in Seattle, Washington. The Network partners with individuals who feel called to establish a Recovery Café in their own communities. Thus, Recovery Café Longmont was born in 2019.
The church—which partnered in founding St. Vrain Manor, income-based apartments for seniors, and the OUR Center, which has helped meet basic life needs of some of the area’s most vulnerable residents—has a long history of identifying unmet needs in the community and partnering with others to put solutions in place.
Although CENTRALongmont Presbyterian Church was the impetus to establish Recovery Café Longmont with its temporary location in the Church basement, the Café is its own separate entity and we are not a faith-based organization.
