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The Mosaic Center began offering men the support they need to overcome addiction five years ago.

“Our mission is to see men experience the fullness of freedom from addiction through the power of Jesus Christ,” said Mosaic Executive Director Stephen Mason, who spoke before Rotary Club of Grundy County recently.

Mason, who is in long-term recovery himself, felt called to the cause. He and Mosaic President Kenny Green founded The Mosaic Center, which is a men’s Christ-centered residential additional recovery center based in Grundy County that serves the region – including Coffee County.

“There’s a lot of missions within the mission,” said Mason. “One, we want these guys to find lasting freedom from drugs and alcohol. There are a lot of different behavioral issues that go along with that. We want to see them healed. We want to see them set free. We want to make it as easy to get into treatment as it is to buy a bag of drugs on the street.”

Mason added, “Another mission within the mission is to restore dads back to kids sober. So, that’s one of the measurements of success and statistics that we go by to see if we are doing our job well. We feel like, if we can give these kids a sober dad back, we are going to break the cycle. All our graduates [except one] have gotten rights back to their children and are back in their children’s lives sober.”

The one exclusion is a man whose children currently live out of state.

“Another mission within the mission is to integrate these guys back into their community,” said Mason. “So, we do a lot of service projects that people need help with. We just painted the Pelham Community Center. It does more for the guys than it does for the community. When you serve something and when you give to something, you feel like you are a part of it. Service projects help them feel like they are a part of the community, and they want to see it thrive.”

Among its current services are Christ-Centered therapeutic process of discipleship, onsite pastoral care and spiritual formation 24-hour onsite staff, onsite job skill training, onsite exercise room, parenting classes, one-on-one pastoral counseling, case management, etc.

Mason says Mosaic started with seven participants five years ago in a 12,000-square-foot facility.

“We quickly jumped from seven to 14 guys within just a couple months,” he said. “Then, we went from 14 to 21 and from 21 to 28 and that’s where we are at today. That’s as far as we can go inside that building. If we increased that number, we’d lose the level of care that we want to provide the guys. I think we were up to 28 within two to three years. We are five years now.”

The following statistics were provided:

• Approximately 70 percent of Mosaic’s graduates have maintained their sobriety, while the national average for treatment centers is 12 to 15 percent.
• Mosaic’s recidivism rate, the rate at which people who have been convicted of a crime reoffend, is less than 5 percent over the past five years. The national average is 45 percent in the first year.
• Fifty-five percent of Mosaic’s graduates have gone to work for other recovery programs or assist, in some way, other men in their recover efforts.

“There are things you can’t measure,” said Mason. “You can’t measure the impact on children’s lives when they get a sober dad. We don’t know what kind of impact that will have on our communities. I come from a grant world where every outcome must be measurable, but the truth is some impacts just aren’t measurable.”

Towards its mission, Mosaic staff have been working to establish a sober living community at The Mosaic Center called The Cottages at Mosaic. Donations from Grundy County Government’s Opioid Abatements funds, as well as private contributions, have made that venture a reality with the first cottage currently under construction.

“It will be a 1,300 square foot house for nine men who are coming out treatment and need a transitional living aspect,” said Mason. “This won’t be limited to Mosaic graduates only. Wherever they come from, these guys don’t have a suitable place to go home to. So, they can stay here. We want to help them in every aspect that we can. They can live there while they adjust to life beyond rehab.”  

A groundbreaking ceremony was held on Wednesday, Oct. 30. Green gave the glory to God and thanked everyone who assisted in the effort.

“Through your prayers, through your financial support, through your encouragement and through your love for these guys at The Mosaic, this would not be possible apart from you and apart from the Mosaic family,” said Green. “Make no mistake about it, the concrete wouldn’t be in the ground, the block wouldn’t be here and the framing that will be going up in a few weeks wouldn’t have been purchased. We thank you so much for the contributions that you have made and will continue to make.”

The Cottages at Mosaic is not a hand out, it’s a hand up. Residents must keep with the sobriety program, which includes maintaining employment and continued drug testing.

“We can’t wait to see the lives that will be changed here,” said Green. “We can’t wait to see kids playing on a playground out here as they get to see their dad in recovery and overcoming addition. We are excited, as it says in Nehemiah, that the work has begun.”

The Mosaic can be reached at 931-467-1166. Additional information can be found on its website: wearemosaicrecoverycenter.com.