CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Young people struggling with substance abuse and addiction now have a new resource in Hampton Roads with the official opening of Harbor Hope Center in Chesapeake.
The recovery high school, which opened on September 2, is the fourth-of-its-kind in Virginia and serves students with substance abuse disorders who are committed to recovery. It has been in the works for several years. The center is located inside the Chesapeake Educational Services Center.
"We are working with the students to build and improve their relationship with substance use disorder and to make sure that they have the strategies and skills to cope and move forward in their recovery," said Bruce Clarke, coordinator of Harbor Hope Center.
Harbor Hope Center is completely free to families and accepts high school students from five school districts: Chesapeake, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth and Suffolk.
"You know, as we see the issues with addiction and overdoses and the toll of lives that this has impacted, the schools are looking for ways to reach these students to help them," Clarke said. "And it's such an exciting thing for our region to have this in place."
The need for adolescent recovery programs has been a long-standing issue in the region. Virginia Beach School Board Member Carolyn Weems, who lost her 14-year-old daughter to a drug overdose, has been advocating for a recovery high school for years.
"It's needed so much because what we're doing as a society, here locally, statewide, and as a country, is just not working," Weems said.
Clarke explained that adolescent recovery programs have been lacking compared to adult programs.
"I think for the adolescent side, there's been a need, a place for them to not have to worry about all the regular pressure that could, you know, be in your typical high school," he said.
The center offers comprehensive support services through a partnership with Chesapeake Integrated Behavioral Healthcare, which provides a full-time clinician and peer recovery specialist.
"We have small group every day, you know, therapy group session for the students, and then the students get individual therapy as well regularly," Clarke said.
Harbor Hope Center currently has three students enrolled but continues to accept students on a rolling basis throughout the school year. For more information about the Harbor Hope Center and its resources, click here.
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