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MORGANTOWN - There's a popular appeal for empathy that suggests judgment of others should be reserved until you've walked a mile in their shoes.
This weekend, Abundant Life Recovery Housing Network is inviting the public to a simulation experience that will allow participants to spend a couple hours in the shoes of an individual struggling to rebuild a life sidetracked by addiction.
Starting at 2 p.m. Sunday at Suncrest United Methodist Church, participants can leave their circumstances at the door and take on a new identity and a whole new set of circumstances.
"Over the next two hours, they will have to make their way around the room and navigate the systems that they need to try to be successful in their recovery," Abundant Life President Matt Johnson said. "So they're going to have to figure out transportation, how to navigate jobs and employment, how to navigate probation and parole, how you navigate treatment centers, and so on. They'll have to make it from table to table and figure things out. It's just a really eye-opening event when it comes to looking at the barriers and the challenges that people in our community face as they're trying to re-enter society through recovery or after incarceration."
Abundant Life Recovery Housing Network is a faith-based recovery housing nonprofit founded in 2021 that currently operates facilities offering 25 beds in the Morgantown area - 15 for men, and 10 for women.
In July, the organization was denied a conditional use request by the Morgantown Board of Zoning Appeals tied to its potential acquisition of a former sorority house at 1493 University Ave. that would have housed an additional 30 beds.
Johnson explained that Abundant Life currently has a waiting list with 95 names on it.
"Our residents stay with us for anywhere from a year to two years, some even longer. They are all working full time. They're attending a number of recovery meetings each week. When people first come into our program, they have to attend five recovery meetings a week," he said. "It's a pretty strict set of standards that people have to adhere to so they can create the accountability and culture they need to build long-term recovery capital."
He said Sunday's event is intended to give those outside the recovery community a glimpse into the kind of commitment it takes to succeed in recovery and the kind of hurdles people have to navigate along the way.
"The goal is just to help people get a better understanding of what folks in our community are actually facing and to help folks think about the barriers and gaps that exist and maybe grow a little bit of compassion and empathy," he said. "It should be a good afternoon of learning, and curiosity, and we hope it's an eye-opening experience for folks as they're forced to kind of see the world from somebody else's point of view and walk in somebody else's shoes."
If you're interested in participating in the free event, you can register through the Abundant Life Recovery Housing Network Facebook page.
For more information about the agency, including information on how to support its mission, check out abundantlifehousing.org.