It was a great turn out for The Door’s 3rd Year Anniversary. Friends and family got together for some sober and clean fun.
On July 30, The Door Resource and Recovery Lodge turned three years old. Since 2018, The Door has been serving the New Town and surrounding areas with recovery support services. The Door provides a safe space for men, women, and children alike. Whether it be someone coming home from treatment, or a family member supporting a loved one’s recovery, or anyone seeking help in their mental or emotional health; The Door has trained and experienced staff to either guide or support someone to a healthier way of living.
Tug-o-war was fun to watch and participate in.
Volleyball was played by almost everyone who attended. Not only was the event good for recovery, it also promoted health and wellness through various physical activities.
After almost a year of down time due to COVID, The Door opened its doors again early 2021 and welcomed the community back in for in person services. The director of The Door Kateri (Teleia) Baker and her staff decided to host a two-day event to celebrate the Door’s big 3! On July 28th and 29th, a “Sobriety Family & Prevention Days” event was held at the Little Shell Powwow Grounds. It was open to the whole community. Recovering alcoholics, addicts, family, friends, and locals in support of The Door attended.
The weather was just right. It wasn’t too hot, with the overcast skies and slight wind. North Segment and the TAT Fitness and Recreation program provided equipment and assistance for both days. At 9:00 AM, a group walk/run around Four Bears Park started the day’s events off. Guests participated in various activities such as cornhole, tug-o-war, basketball, and volleyball. There was a lot of friendly competition in the watermelon eating contest hotdog eating contest, and the bat races. Both days were filled with fun for the entire recovery community. During the activities, members of the recovery community got a chance to speak to their peers about their recovery or anything that was on their mind. A meeting was also held on their first day in the powwow harbor.
The event brought visitors from MHA Nation’s Good Road Recovery Center in Bismarck as well. Many of whom haven’t visited “home” in months due to the risk of relapse. However, The Door’s 3rd year anniversary provided the perfect opportunity to those at Good Road in visiting home with a safe place to go, surrounded by friends and family in recovery. The event provided a glimpse at just how big the
Parshall Resource Center’s director Francis Old Rock taking his turn at the bat races against The Door’s Mark Skibsrud, who tipped over shortly after this picture was taken. Mark said he hasn’t fallen around like that since his drinking days over 20 years ago.
Everyone conducted themselves with good sportsmanship and high fives were given between opposing teams after each game.
Winners of the events got gifted with various prizes, along with some door prizes drawn at random. Mariah Wolf was the lucky winner of an at home workout system.
Don Hall drawing for prize winners after he got done playing tug-o-war.
recovery community is getting. Many people talked about how hard it was to get sober before having a program such as The Door. The community is very fortunate to have The Door, and other networks of support such as Parshall Resource Center, Mandaree Cares, and Good Road in Bismarck. Ft. Berthold has come a long way from only having one or two meetings a week. Currently, there are AA, NA, and Wellbriety meetings held every day of the week within MHA Nation. New Town has always had its meetings, however now there’s open meetings six days out of the week in New Town at three different locations, one meeting in the Gerald Tex Fox Justice Center for inmates, and meetings held in Mandaree, Four Bears, and White Shield as well.
The Door’s third year anniversary brought the recovery community fellowship and connection to one another all while having clean and sober fun. Some of the guests commented that prior to their sobriety, they would have never come to such an event like this out of fear of large crowds, and anxiety over how to fit in. That was not the case here; everyone got along, there was great teamwork, lots of laughs, and everyone was welcomed with open arms. New friendships were made and even some newcomers and some of the old timers came out to have some fun. The goal is and always will be to reach out to more people in order to help them recover.
The Door is looking forward to next year’s festivities along with some upcoming events as well. Hosting such events brings fellowship to the community not only for those in recovery, but also to anyone that’s been affected by addiction. “The Door’s family of recovering individuals has grown so large since 2018, and will continue to grow, support and love one another”, wrote The Door on their Facebook page. Anyone seeking recovery, assistance in helping a family member or friend of an addict or alcoholic, or anyone struggling with mental or emotional health could benefit greatly from The Door and its services. Staff have been providing more one-on-one assistance with individuals as more of the staff are becoming trained and certified as Peer Support Specialists. The Door Resource and Recovery Lodge recently relocated to the old nursing home turned into the Emergency Operations Center/COVID Task Force Command Center. They didn’t move far; they are right down the road from their former spot in the basement under the post office.
