Two open doors at Recovery Cafe Mason County

In February 2023, Recovery Cafe opened at the Community Lifeline shelter in downtown Shelton as a place to support people on their journey out of homelessness and addiction.

In January, as the new nonprofit Recovery Cafe Mason County it reopened in side-by-side buildings at 208 and 210 S. 2nd St., formerly the home to The Saints' Pantry food bank, which moved across the street.

Recovery Cafe Mason County is part of a network of 66 Recovery Cafes, the first one opened in Seattle. The guiding principles are "to create a safe community in which all are valued, we will strive to connect with divine love in ourselves and others, show respect, cultivate compassion, practice forgiveness, encourage growth, and give back."

Recovery Cafe Mason County's main office at 210 S. 2nd Street provides case management services, employment support, education, detox/treatment assessment and referrals, and the use of laptops for Zoom and job searches. It also hosts programs such as Narcotics Anonymous, a Women and Moms Support Group, the Standing Tall Together Men's Support Group, and the Healing Spirits Support Group. In June, four staff members completed their certified peer counseling training.

Next door at 208 S. 2nd St., Creative Arts Talent Nights are hosted from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays. Participants and attendees must be at least 18 years old or accompanied by an adult. The venue welcomes music, singing, comedy, poetry reading, dancing, art and other talents. For more information, call the emcee Dirrg at 360-463-1143.

"We're really trying to engage the community as a whole," said Alicia Otto, program manager.

In March 2023, Otto started as a volunteer with Community Lifeline and ran its Recovery Cafe and was a part-time shelter aid in the building at Third and Franklin streets.

But "the space next to Brewer Park was not conducive to recovery, our primary goal," said Otto, a recovering addict. Community Lifeline is now a partner organization to Recovery Cafe and helps it seek grants, she said.

Recovery Cafe Mason County hosted its first Creative Arts Talent Night on May 15 and has been drawing six or seven people who saw the advertisement on Facebook. The host is Dirrg, an audio engineer and a producer. Like the other staff members and volunteers, he battled his own addictions. "We have the understanding what it's like out there," he said.

Dirrg said he seeks to attract a "diverse cross section" of talent at Recovery Cafe, including displaying works by photographers.

The nonprofit seeks donations including nonperishable food, bottled water, and travel-size hygiene products and donations to buy laundry cards and soap, dryer sheets, and group arts supplies. For more information, contact the organization at 360-358-0959 or [email protected].