Founded in 2020, Abundance Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving individuals in recovery from addiction. Their aim is to support people during their transition from a treatment center, detox facility, jail, prison, or homeless shelter while they try to put the life pieces back together.

The Abundance Foundation is focused on addressing two main problems:

1. Supporting low-income, homeless, or recently released Department of Corrections individuals, particularly women, with limited access to treatment for substance use disorders.
2. Providing constant and healthy connection in a stable, supportive, and accountable environment for a long enough period of time to move individuals from early recovery to long-term recovery and success.

Brian Bauer, founder of Abundance Foundation, along with his team of coaches, Elizabeth Zetterquist, Alys Susskind, Terrell Keith, and Luke DeWeese, developed and implemented a program for Substance Use Disorder (SUD) treatment that fills the transitional gap in the system, where the highest percentage of relapse and recidivism occurs. Their combined decades-long personal and professional experience in the recovery field is the foundation on which the program has been built. They developed a strategy that focuses on the critical transition period and guides people throughout the long-term process of building a new life with the help of a Recovery Coach.

The transition period for someone in early recovery can be nearly impossible to navigate without the right support system.  They often struggle with establishing financial support or private insurance. Coupled with an overwhelming list of obligations and no rent money, it is incredibly difficult to succeed. This quickly creates an unhealthy environment for relapse and recidivism, perpetuating the endless, toxic cycle of addiction.

Recovery Coaches are a form of peer support provided by someone who has been through recovery from addiction and can serve as a guide with empathy for the process. They have successfully navigated their own addiction issues and now work to show others how they did it. 

According to Mental Health America, the concept of peer support originated during the self-help movement in the 1970s when people who had survived abuse came together to support each other beyond symptom management and move towards healing and living meaningful lives in the community.

Recovery Coaches help to:

• Find stable, sober housing
• Meet legal obligations
• Acquire Medicaid and Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT)
• Make doctor appointments
• Find an AA/NA sponsor
• Obtain employment
• Contact a therapist 
• Connect with happy, healthy, sober communities that support recovery

In its first year of operation, the Abundance Foundation supported over 100 people in their recovery. The organization’s current success rate using this method is above 80% while the national success rate for treatment centers dealing with opioid addiction is only around three percent.

The Abundance program has helped me immensely throughout my recovery process. You get a recovery coach who is there every step of the way, fun activities to do, and sober people to have in your life. It’s a really great program and has helped me change my life for the better.
-Tavah K., Client

Thanks to the Abundance program I know I'm not alone in my recovery. With the help of my amazing recovery coach, I’ve been active in my recovery, gotten custody of my son back, learned new ways to cope with life, and in general, learned how to be happy! 
- Santana R., Client

In 2022, the organization was awarded grant funding from the BHS Impact Fund Grant Program to support the expansion of its Recovery Coach network allowing them to serve more individuals in their recovery.

“We opened our first women’s sober living home in December and have plans in the works to open two more homes later this year in Fort Collins. While the demographic we work with can be unpredictable and challenging, the model of how we do it is rather simple and the payoff of seeing the incredible transformations is the great reward. Our plan is to use Northern Colorado as the model of what is possible and duplicate our success around the state and with the right amount of support, throughout the country.” said Bauer.

To learn more about programs offered through Abundance Foundation, please visit abundancefoundationinc.org