Studies have shown that clients whose motivation to change is enhanced by the development of vocational skills and goals and/or the learning and pursuit of creative endeavors such as art or music show higher rates of substance use recovery

Over the years Here’s Help has adapted its treatment components to include innovative approaches that facilitate socialization, increase self-expression and self-esteem, while augmenting educational and vocational treatment objectives.  The Alternative Therapies Program provides this exposure and motivation.  The alternative therapies program is composed of the following elements:  horticulture and culinary arts instruction and job preparation, computer literacy instruction, GED preparation courses, music literacy education, art therapy, photography and driver’s education.   The programming offers students the opportunity to build job readiness capacity and social and leisure time use skills and also provides them exposure to new career options.  For many, these first-time experiences will awaken an incomparable sense of pride in accomplishment and a new awareness of the power of invention.

Seed-to-Table is a plant science Horticulture and Culinary Arts Program that provides real-life skills and training for persons 13 to 25 enrolled as a component of their residential substance abuse treatment typically lasting 4-to-6 months. Seed-to-Table consists of two interrelated projects, one that takes place in the organic garden, and the other in the state-of-the-art commercial teaching kitchen The horticulture component is a 16-week classroom-based and hands-on course covering all aspects of gardening/horticulture, culminating in program certification. Students build and manage a garden that daily supplies the culinary school with vegetables/herbs.

The Culinary Arts Program is 10-weeks (4 hours/day, M-F, 14 students per cycle) of hands-on training, combining classroom with cooking experience in HH’s industrial kitchen. Students progress through achievement steps, and are given the responsibilities experienced in a restaurant environment (e.g. inventory/menu planning/kitchen management/event coordination).  Curriculum includes preparation of healthy gourmet meals for clients in residential treatment.

Computer Literacy instruction provides a comprehensive overview of the internal and external devices associated with a computer, including input and output devices, operating systems (CPU, Memory, RAM, ROM), storage devices (floppy disk drive, Zip drive, hard drive, CD-ROM drive), internal and external modems, computer software/programs (Word, Publisher, etc.), networks, the World Wide Web, Windows Explorer, and downloading and uploading files.

The Intensive GED Preparation Program is designed to reduce the amount of time necessary to prepare students for the GED by focusing instruction on essential GED skills.

Music Literacy Program components include sessions on theory, voice enhancement activities, song writing, movement activities to strengthen physical coordination and a sense of rhythm, production techniques (recording and editing), as well as teaching musical notation and learning about musical instruments.  Participants learn the techniques and tools of professional artists while experiencing education, artistic exploration, job opportunities, and hands-on entrepreneurship.

Art Instruction includes sessions on the use of spheres and designs creating values; shading and drawing; abstract images and realism; painting.  Students learn a variety of techniques and begin to use art as a form of self-expression.