Mission

AIDS Service Center is a multiservice community organization providing HIV/AIDS peer education, training and outreach; specialized women’s services; health promotion initiatives; and related services to promote the well-being, empowerment, and stability of persons living with and at risk for HIV/AIDS throughout New York City and neighboring areas. H.I.G.H. on Recovery was established as a project within ASC to address the needs of the target population of people in or seeking recovery from a substance use disorder who also are living with or at risk for HIV/AIDS.

Support Groups

As a means of improving and maintaining overall wellness, H.I.G.H. on Recovery’s support groups help people improve their relapse prevention skills and gain insights into related problem areas. The groups are led by recovery peer educators who have been trained by ASC’s peer education staff to address issues of recovery with people who have the co-occurring disorders. The groups deal with recovery topics of special interest to people with co-occurring disorders.

Recovery Theatre

Two recovery peer educators have developed and presented real-life scenarios on relapse prevention to more than 20 different groups within ASC, the host agency, and collaborating organizations. The H.I.G.H. on Recovery actors act out a scenario of life events that can trigger relapse and ask the group to process the strengths and weaknesses of the characters in the enactment. After suggesting healthier responses to the situation, participants then act out the responses they suggested, getting practice in new skills. Because of the popularity of these sessions and the lessons learned through role play, H.I.G.H. on Recovery is taking its theatre to more groups of people in recovery.

Outreach Activities

Specific peer leader responsibilities have been identified for some graduates of the peer education program. For example, one graduate peer recovery educator conducts recovery outreach to recovering addicts in New York’s single-room-occupancy hotels, soup kitchens, and health fairs. Another conducts monthly workshops on recovery in a residential facility for HIV-positive recovering addicts, an outpatient treatment program, and a detox program.