HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — A first-of-its-kind recovery center is opening in Hillsborough County with a mission not only to treat substance use disorders, but to reunite families and help former inmates transition back into the community.
What You Need To Know
The new Orient Wellness Center, operated by Phoenix House Florida in partnership with Hillsborough County, will officially open to clients on Feb. 2
The first-of-its-kind recovery center is opening in Hillsborough County with a mission not only to treat substance use disorders, but to reunite families and help former inmates transition back into the community
It is located near the Hillsborough County Jail and will provide free, long-term treatment for eligible clients enrolled in the county’s health care plan
The new Orient Wellness Center, operated by Phoenix House Florida in partnership with Hillsborough County, will officially open to clients on Feb. 2. While the facility is expected to serve patients referred from multiple sources, leaders said that a major goal is to support people leaving jail during one of the most vulnerable periods of their lives.
“The period immediately after release from jail is one of the most vunerable times in a person’s life. Without support, people are at high risk of relapse, overdose and returning to the same patterns that brought them into contact with the system,” Phoenix House Florida CEO Maria Alvarez said.
The residential treatment center is located near the Hillsborough County Jail and will provide free, long-term treatment for eligible clients enrolled in the county’s health care plan. Services include individualized treatment plans, group counseling, recreational therapy, health education, family support services and case management focused on long-term recovery.
Program Director Jessica Gerstein said that the facility was designed to safely serve both men and women while keeping treatment spaces separate.
The center is located near the Hillsborough County Jail and will provide free, long-term treatment for eligible clients enrolled in the county’s health care plan. (Spectrum News/Fadia Patterson)
“Both sides will never co-mingle during their stay here. This is an 85-bed facility with 75 male beds and 10 female beds,” Gerstein said.
For many clients, walking into treatment is a life-changing moment.
Mark Urbanski, who serves on Phoenix House Florida’s board of directors, remembers feeling overwhelmed before entering recovery decades ago.
“It was just (in) hopelessness and despair, and I just thought that was the way it was going to be — and I would have ended up dying — and then I was offered the opportunity to go through here,” Urbanski said.
John Cunningham, who is nearing 10 years of sobriety, says he came to the program when he had nowhere else to turn.
“I did three months here. At that point I was really lost. I was living in my car and kind of out of options,” Cunningham said.
Most patients are expected to remain at the center for 90 to 120 days, focusing on recovery, stability and life skills before fully reentering the community. (Spectrum News/Fadia Patterson)
Now working in the recovery community, Cunningham said the new center will expand access to life-saving services.
“We’re able to help people and help families find long-term sobriety and help. And I think what this center means, it means more access, more lives saved and more people that get a second chance just like me,” he said.
Urbanski says giving back is now part of his mission.
“You can keep it unless you give it away,” he said.
County leaders said programs like the Orient Wellness Center are essential to reducing repeat offenses and improving public safety. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office reports crime has dropped more than 12% in the past year, but officials stress enforcement alone is not enough.
Most patients are expected to remain at the center for 90 to 120 days, focusing on recovery, stability and life skills before fully reentering the community.
Officials hope the facility will serve as a model for how treatment, reentry services and family support can work together to break the cycle of addiction, incarceration and generational trauma.