The Haven At College Opens Today In Partnership With Miami University

BY KELLY WAGNER
Miami University journalism student

The Haven at College today opened an outpatient center to assist Miami University students dealing with addiction issues.

The Haven is located at the Interfaith Center on South Campus Avenue in Oxford. It opened with several students already registered for its program.

The Haven's first facility opened its doors in 2011 at University of Southern California in Los Angeles. It serves college students throughout the country, with both outpatient and inpatient treatment centers for students dealing with substance abuse.

Haven’s purpose

The goal of Haven is to provide college-aged individuals dealing with addiction a community of support throughout their recovery and treatment process. It aims to help students get healthy and sober so they can return to college and earn their degrees.

Rebecca Baudry Young, director of Miami's Student Wellness at Miami University, says that the university is still learning about The Haven and the programs it has to offer.

Miami University’s Alcohol Coordinating Committee has a treatment and intervention work group that realized Miami needed recovery support programs. After researching the issues, Young says Miami ultimately decided to pursue a relationship with The Haven.

The Haven offers support

Young believes that this program will allow a lot more students to stay in school.

“If a student has addiction and needs to get treatment, many times when they come back into the college environment, it is very difficult for them to maintain their sobriety. This will allow students to be able to either stay in school and have this as a compliment to the treatment services they are getting locally or that when they come back from a treatment program that they can feel supported and maintain their sobriety and complete their degrees.”

Students own their decisions

Miami's Haven location consists of two full-time staff members, a client liaison and clinical director, plus several part-time clinicians, graduate students interns, and previous clients who are trained in recovery.

Although Miami is hosting The Haven, staff at the university's health services do not determine if a student will attend one of The Haven’s program.

Instead, health services are making referrals and educating students who would benefit from these services about the opportunity, according to Young. The university wants to build a community for students in recovery to make sure they feel supported, she said.

Holly Sherman, a co-founder of The Haven at College, said Haven's creators are dedicated to success. "We spent an entire week finding out what Oxford needs and want they want. We want to fill in where there are gaps and provide as much support as possible."

Besides Miami and UCLA, The Haven partners with the University of California at Santa Barbara, University of Redlands, University of San Francisco and Drexel University.

Additional information is available on The Haven at College website and its Facebook page.

Photo: The Haven at College at Miami University is located at the Interfaith Center on South Campus Avenue in Oxford. -- Photo by Kelly Wagner