By Dawn Carter

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill

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Sanctuary(n): a place of refuge or safety. It can be a physical location, such as a church or nature reserve, where individuals seek shelter from harm or find solace from the outside world. Sanctuary can also extend to a state of mind, symbolizing a feeling of security, peace, and spiritual well-being. For those battling the storms of mental health challenges, substance use disorders, and the hardships of homelessness, CREOKS stands as a symbol of hope, a blanket of support and understanding for individuals in need. From its roots deeply entrenched in the community, CREOKS blossoms into a haven, offering an array of services aimed at lighting the path towards healing and renewal. This is where stories of resilience are born, where lives are transformed, and where the promise of a better tomorrow shines brightly. Welcome to CREOKS, where compassion meets action, and the journey toward wellness finds a home.

I recently had the privilege of sitting down with Christa Johnson, the Assistant Site Director of the area, and Robert (Bobby) McDonald, who serves as both a Housing Specialist and Peer Recovery Support Specialist at CREOKS. Their insights shed light on the vital role this agency plays in the community and the transformative impact it has on individuals’ lives.

Beginning as Tri-County Health Team, a group collaboration of professionals and local citizens, had a mission to address the pressing mental health needs of the area in early 1980. Firmly establishing itself on June 25, 1980, CREOKS, an acronym formed from those first three counties, Creek, Okmulgee and Okfuskee, will expand its reach over the coming years. CREOKS now has 27 locations spanning across the first three counties, Tulsa, and beyond offering a comprehensive range of services. These services include therapy, urgent recovery centers such as Spring Creek, equine therapy, medication-assisted treatment, and support for the homeless population.

Spring Creek, one of CREOKS’ urgent recovery centers located in Sapulpa, serves as a sanctuary for individuals experiencing mental health crises. “If someone is experiencing any mental health crisis, Spring Creek is somewhere that they can go to get stabilized for 48 to 72 hours.” Explains Johnson, “So someone can gain access by a couple of different ways. They can show up and say, ‘I’m in a crisis’, they have to be suicidal or homicidal, or they’re also able to call 988…That’s been across the state. It’s been a nationwide push for 988 for mental health. So especially our Okmulgee County area, if somebody’s experiencing a mental health crisis, and they call 988, and they meet criteria, we have Crisis Response specialists that go out to assess them, and then connect them with a therapist to see if they’re going to meet criteria for an inpatient like Spring Creek. If they are, then we’re able to help transport them to Spring Creek. If they don’t meet criteria for Spring Creek, or they meet criteria for somewhere else, or Spring Creek is full, depending upon where it is, we can also help transport them to that location as well.”

The agency recently expanded its reach by opening a new location in Talequah, bolstering its crisis recovery efforts to provide timely intervention and stabilization for those in need. “We’re working on children’s urgent recovery centers because we also know that there’s a high need for our kiddos as well as our adults.”

Navigating the complex terrain of mental health crises can be daunting, but CREOKS has streamlined access to its services through the 988 mental health crisis hotline. Individuals in need or their concerned family members can dial 988 to receive prompt assistance.

Moreover, CREOKS operates under the ethos of affordability and accessibility. The agency’s services are initially free, thanks to its certification as a Community Behavioral Health Center (CCBHC). Certified Community Behavioral Health Centers (CCBHCs) offer comprehensive and integrated services to individuals facing mental health challenges, substance use disorders, and other related issues. Oklahoma’s CCBHCs adhere to rigorous national standards, ensuring high-quality care that is accessible and responsive to the needs of diverse populations. Services provided by CCBHCs may include crisis intervention, outpatient mental health treatment, substance abuse counseling, peer support, and coordination with other healthcare providers and community resources. With the impending shift to managed care, CREOKS aims to accommodate private insurance while ensuring affordability through sliding scale options.

Transitioning from mental health to housing services, Robert McDonald expounds on the agency’s commitment to the “housing first” approach. “Housing is a basic need,” McDonald begins, “It’s evidence based, they found that if you can get somebody housing even if they’re still actively in addiction, or in the middle of a mental health crisis, if you can get them housed, in a lot of cases, the rest of it kind of works themselves out, you know.”  The Housing First model is an approach to addressing homelessness that prioritizes providing stable and permanent housing as the first step for individuals or families experiencing homelessness, without requiring them to meet pre conditions such as sobriety or employment. It operates on the belief that housing is a fundamental human right and that individuals can better address other challenges in their lives, such as mental health issues or substance use disorders, once they have a stable place to live. This model aims to break the cycle of homelessness by addressing the root cause – lack of housing stability – and then providing the necessary support services to help individuals maintain their housing and achieve stability in other areas of their lives. “They found out that they’ve got a roof over their head, so they don’t have to worry about it anymore. So maybe we don’t need to cover it up and use drugs.” McDonald continues, “I work with them hand in hand. If they choose to be housing first, I meet with them once a week, I help them fill out applications, if they can’t physically do it themselves. If they can, then I just kind of assist them and check their work and make sure it’s done right. Say we get somebody housed, I will have them bring their lease in, we’ll look over their lease, I’ll go over their lease, like tenant rights. A lot of times I’ll get people that are in need of housing but there’s other things that they need to work on first, like finding a job. So we have an IPS, which is individual placement services. They help people find jobs, we’ll help them go back to school if need be.”

Robert McDonald’s journey from adversity to advocacy exemplifies the transformative power of recovery. Drawing from his personal experiences, he serves as a type of lighthouse for individuals navigating similar challenges as a Peer Recovery Support Specialist. McDonald offers invaluable insights and support to those embarking on the path to recovery and shares how his lightbulb moment came. “I seen my life was going nowhere, I was 39. And I just realized, hey, look, I’ve probably got as much or less behind me than I have ahead of me. And I didn’t want to be on that final days, thinking man, I didn’t do nothing with my life. Most people, when they get sober, they go to rehab, and they work a program. I just did it. My wife calls me stubborn as a mule, when I say I’m gonna do something, I just do it…My passion lies with somebody that’s on the road to recovery, but having trouble with it, you know what I mean? I was an addict for 22 years. I’m talking hardcore meth addict for 22 years and, and the grass is so much greener on this side of the tracks.”

CREOKS offers a diverse range of programs and services beyond mental health and substance use assistance to cater to the varied needs of individuals in the community. These include practical support such as help with obtaining eyeglasses for better vision, counseling services to address various life challenges, and specialized programs like drug court classes aimed at rehabilitation and reintegration into society. “We treat the person as a whole,” McDonald remarked.

Stay tuned for an upcoming feature delving deeper into Robert McDonald’s journey and the invaluable role of Peer Recovery Support Specialists in facilitating healing and empowerment within our community.

For more information about CREOKS and its services, visit their website at creoks.org. CREOKS – “Help Today, Hope Tomorrow.”