A new organization on the Suncoast is taking a different approach to addiction recovery, one bus stop at a time. Rooted Recovery Suncoast launched earlier this year under NAMI Sarasota and Manatee Counties, and its teams head out into the community with water, snacks, and Narcan, meeting people where they are rather than waiting for them to seek help. The outreach focuses on bus stops and areas where people experiencing homelessness gather, places where a conversation can start without an appointment or a paperwork trail.
What sets the group apart is who’s doing the work. Many of the volunteers and staff have personal experience with substance abuse, and they say that shared history builds trust fast. Peer support specialist Erin Heinrichs described how seeing someone who had been through her struggle and was now living a life she wanted gave her hope. “If you would have told me five years ago, I would have told you, you were a liar,” she said. “Like, my life couldn’t be what it is today.” She calls it a blessing.
Addiction and overdose deaths affect families in every corner of our region, from Bradenton to Sarasota to Venice, so a local, personal response like this one matters. If you or someone you know needs support, or if you’d like to volunteer, Rooted Recovery Suncoast and NAMI Sarasota and Manatee Counties are worth a call. Have you seen peer support make a difference in your own family or neighborhood?
