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A San Antonio nonprofit that helps young people and families navigate substance use, mental health challenges, and recovery is receiving new financial support as it continues serving hundreds of local residents each week.
Rise Recovery recently received a charitable contribution from Broadway Bank as the Texas-based financial institution marked its 85th anniversary. The investment will help support programs that provide free recovery services for teens, young adults and their families.
For one Rise Recovery staff member, the organization's mission is deeply personal.
Dalton DeWinne, 27, first connected with Rise Recovery when he was 15 years old. Today, he works at the organization as a youth recovery specialist, helping young people facing many of the same challenges he once experienced.
"My first criminal charge was whenever I was in seventh grade," DeWinne said. "I ended up picking up an assault charge at school, primarily due to the fact I didn't know how to manage my emotions. I dealt with my emotions with substances from the time I was 11 up until the time I was 20 years old."
DeWinne said he has now been drug-free for seven years. His childhood was shaped by substance use in his family, and he said the loss of his father to an overdose became a turning point in his own recovery journey.
"I didn't know what I wanted to do with my recovery," he said. "That purpose that I found, that passion that I had, was definitely motivated through that experience of losing somebody so close to me."
Rise Recovery has served youth and families in San Antonio for 50 years. The organization offers barrier-free, open-ended support programs at no cost and currently serves more than 100 youth and family members each week at its North Central San Antonio campus.
Harvey P. Hartenstine, CEO of Broadway Bank, said the institution's anniversary initiative is aimed at supporting organizations that address critical community needs.
"The issue is real," Hartenstine said. "If we can support even a little bit of that and save some lives and help the families that are going through this, it makes a huge difference."
Beth Ochoa is the CEO of GDC Marketing & Ideation. She had addiction in her family and joined the board for Rise Recovery after learning their treatment process is not just about the individual, but the whole family.
“A couple of board members have lost children, and just seeing their pain and their agony, and knowing that's what my parents went through as well really keeps you connected about making a difference,” said Ochoa.
After two years on staff, DeWinne said one of the most rewarding parts of his job has been watching young people succeed, including helping participants in Rise Recovery's summer programs prepare for their future.
"I was granted the opportunity to help a lot of these kids apply for colleges," he said. "I can't point out one single success story because everybody who has consistently put in the effort has had their own personal success story."
For DeWinne, those successes reflect the same message that changed the course of his own life: recovery is possible, and support can make a lasting difference.
Disclosure: Rise Recovery and Broadway Bank are sponsors of Texas Public Radio. We cover them as we would any other business or organization.
