The Pathfinder Network will unveil its newest substance addiction recovery center on March 29th at an Open House event. This Drug Addiction Treatment and Recovery Act (Measure 110) funded location will aid those seeking peer support services for addiction recovery. The Resilience & Recovery Project office is located at 7901 NE Glisan Street and is open to individuals 18 and older in Multnomah County with current or prior justice-system involvement.

This recovery location is six blocks from the Pathfinder Network’s Oregon headquarters and Center for Family Success at 7305 NE Glisan Street. This new site’s proximity to the organization’s other resources and its central location in Portland’s Eastside made it an ideal spot for the Resilience & Recovery Project – Multnomah County, according to Kiley Yuthas, Marketing & Communications Manager for the Pathfinder Network. “One of the amazing parts about this location is if there are services that we do not offer at this location, but we do offer in our Center for Family Success, we can have a peer walk these [six] blocks with somebody, introduce them one-on-one to whoever is going to be able to support them and get them involved with other wrap-around services,” remarked Yuthas. She explained that both locations offer different programs, but people’s needs often overlap. “Referrals go both ways,” said Yuthas.

Nearly two years ago, the Pathfinder Network relocated to Montavilla. The new site allowed the services group to merge their Downtown Portland offices with the Center for Family Success, previously located on SE 122nd. However, this Glisan street center is just one of eighteen locations in Oregon, nine of which are inside penitentiaries. For thirty years, the organization has served the needs of people navigating the post-conviction system. “The Pathfinder Network was founded in 1993, and our mission is to provide tools and support to individuals and families who are impacted by the criminal justice system,” explained Leticia Longoria-Navarro, Executive Director of the organization. Their work often begins within Oregon’s corrections facilities and extends post-release. “Most of the programming that happens in the institution is cognitive behavioral groups. The goal is to provide folks support and services through group-based intervention so that they can get the knowledge that they need to be able to start planning for their reentry,” said Longoria-Navarro. Beyond prison-based support, the Pathfinder Network has programs to guide people on parole or probation. “We have a suite of different community-based programs that are really focused on providing support to the individuals that are impacted by the system as well as their children and families. We know there are just a ton of barriers that people experience with involvement in the criminal justice system, and we also know that people are connected with other systems at the same time. Whether it be mental health, substance abuse, or child welfare. So our goal is to try to help reduce some of those barriers and increase access to resources.” Pathfinder Network staff is not necessarily the services provider but instead works to direct people to resources that can help.

Traditionally, this type of work centers on the person preparing for reentry into the community and expands to include the individual’s family after release. However, Longoria-Navarro explained that this is starting to change. “The majority of our programs are really focused on the individual who’s incarcerated, but we have evolved and expanded our programs to start that support for both the children and families when they’re still incarcerated.” The organization considers family support an essential part of the program, providing an intervention for children who are often collateral damage in the criminal justice system.

Over the last three years, the Pathfinder Network has expanded its efforts to include substance addiction recovery support for those with mandatory treatment requirements and those looking to overcome their dependence on drugs. This avenue of services has expanded over the last three years due to funding from Measure 110. In 2020, voters approved a ballot measure to reclassify personal drug possession offenses to Class E violations that result in a $100 fine. That fine is waived if the person completes a health assessment at an addiction recovery center. It also redirects funds from the Oregon Marijuana Account to drug treatment and recovery services intending to handle the new influx of people seeking a health assessment or treatment.

It has taken years for the treatment side of Measure 110 to roll out to communities, while the decriminalization part of the program was immediately evident. However, Kiley Yuthas explained that the Pathfinder Network began working on growing these facilities early on. “This is the 5th location of our Resilience & Recovery Project in Oregon. We have three locations in Jackson County right now in Medford. That was our first location to open in 2021. And since then, we have expanded to two other offices down there in 2022. We opened the Resilience & Recovery Project – Marion County down in Salem, and now we’re opening this one.”

The need for more recovery locations is immense, and it is sometimes hampered by finding enough staff to guide those seeking treatment. “We’ll continue to grow rapidly, and if anyone wants to work in peer support, they should check out our jobs page,” said Yuthas, noting that personal history is an important part of the role. “One of the amazing things about our Resilience & Recovery Project is that all of our peers have lived experience of recovery and systems involvement. So they can say, ‘I have been in this position, and I took these steps, or I can support you in these ways to get you to a similar outcome as what I have achieved.’ so the qualifications for becoming a peer are to have two years of successful recovery and some experience navigating systems.”

The Resilience & Recovery Project’s open house begins at 11 a.m. next Wednesday, with a short program introducing the space at 11:30. The peer program manager will speak about her experience, hopes, and goals for the program. Then one of the parent partners will talk about her experience coming to the Pathfinder Network as a participant and transitioning into a parent partner role. From noon until 2 p.m., the organization invites the public to look at the space and meet some of the people working to break addictions and make the criminal justice system a program of reform.

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Correction March 23rd, 2023: A previous version of this article said they were in operation for 20 years instead of 30 years. We regret this error.

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