By Jackie Gorski
Times-Union
WARSAW — Living in Transition Effectively celebrated its second location at 121 W. Center St., Warsaw, Monday, May 6, with a ribbon-cutting with the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce.
Tammy Cotton, founder and executive director of L.I.T.E., said services started April 1 at the Warsaw location. L.I.T.E. is a regional recovery hub, which is a designation through the state, so they oversee six counties: St. Joe, Elkhart, Marshall, Fulton, Cass and Kosciusko.
“We’re also a recovery community organization, which is another designation. And we have the Lighthouse Recovery Women’s Home next to the (Milford Methodist) Meeting House, which is where our Recovery Café is,” she said.
In September, L.I.T.E. opened The Recovery Café in Milford.
There are six staff member. Most, but not all, are peer coaches, which, Cotton said, means the peer coach meets weekly with the client one-on-one and walks them through their journey in recovery. That could mean they go with the client to court or The Bowen Center, helping them find treatment or getting the client into a recovery program, helping them with a budget or holding them accountable.
“This is life stuff,” Cotton said.
L.I.T.E. decided to open a second location due to the need. One of the big barriers to finding resources is transportation, so not everyone who needs L.I.T.E’s services can get to Milford, Cotton said. They also wanted to be close to the Kosciusko County Jail as their services started within the jail. They wanted some sort of safety net for those coming out of jail.
She hopes L.I.T.E. can provide more collaboration, more support for people trying to find their recovery and reduce recidivism.
All of L.I.T.E’s services are free, as the organization is funded through grants and private donations.
People can stop by the Warsaw location and meet with Shelly Metzger, peer navigator who will soon be a peer coach, and she can refer the client to a peer coach and “get them on their way.”
L.I.T.E. doesn’t have hours of operation for the Warsaw location yet. Cotton said they’ll see what the need is first. People can call (574) 306-0006.
