WELLNESS CONNECTION N THE R E C O V E R Y

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PUT YOUR HEALTH FIRST

Supporting Health and Wellness

NWelcome to the premier issue of Wellness Connection, a collaboration of Rainbow’s End Recovery Center and the Crisis Hotline. Our goal is to provide timely information on mental health issues, such as addiction, depression, grief, and trauma. We hope to shed light on and encourage discussion of mental illness, addiction, and recovery. We will present stories of hope and encouragement as well as essays on related topics. This is just a start. We welcome your feedback and will be seeking submissions from our readers: wellness23@gmail.com staffed by good-hearted souls with little or no experience so there were some bumps and crashes along the way.

Rainbow’s End Recovery set out to be different than the traditional substance use disorder treatment facility my friends and family had attended. A substance abuse counselor and an energy healer raved about the potential of the property in Challis on the Salmon River as the perfect place for people to heal. So it began.

One major focus of the YMCA in the Wood River Valley is the health and well-being of its community. Founded in 2007 by dedicated group of volunteers whose goal was to provide programs and facilities that would serve as a recreational center to inspire our community, the Y had the support of the City of Ketchum which provided the land. It continues to promote recreation and community outreach and operates through the continuing support of numerous donors, volunteers, and community leaders.

To achieve its mission, the Y offers classes to promote health and well-being beginning with classes for youth ages 11-15 to orient them to proper use of the gym which allows them to workout unaccompanied.

The clinical director and one full-time counselor bore the burden of treating the clients, but because we were new, there was only a handful at a time.

The mission of the Y is to strengthen community by working together with its neighbors to make sure everyone, regardless of age, income, or background, has the opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive.

The easy part was converting the bed-andbreakfast facility into client rooms. The hard part was the bureaucratic hoops. The hardest part was finding employees. When we opened our doors, we were

The Make-a-Splash program was designed to provide swimming lessons and water safety instruction to second graders in the Wood River Valley. Statistics illustrate that if children are not taught to swim by age nine, there is little chance that they will ever learn. Since 2015, Make-a-Splash has graduated 2,000 children who are now water safe and will be able to make water sports part of their healthy lifestyle.

The Y pool also offers classes for adults in water aerobics, group exercises, and water therapy. Swimming is a one of the

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Going forward, we were able to recruit more and more qualified staff. We worked on honing the curriculum and schedule to accommodate the needs of the clients and the requirements of accrediting agencies. We saw more clients and were building a reputation for quality care.

Each client had a different story, used a different drug, but in the end, each was a person in need of unconditional love and care. Once they realized they were accepted as a whole person and no longer identified by their drug use, they could begin to heal. They would open up to each other, counselors, and group members realizing they were not unique or alone.

We provided community experiences, such as the Fourth of July celebrations,

Self-care means giving yourself permission to pause.

Cecilia Tran