The ROC is a one-stop-shop for people recently released from jail or prison, and those under supervision in the criminal justice system. The ROC is modeled in part after Recovery Community Centers we see elsewhere in the state. When fully operational the ROC will have video games, a basketball net, couches, coffee snacks, and a TV. It will be a safe place that people wanting to do the right thing can hang out with others wanting to do the right thing.

The ROC will additionally provide meaningful and tangible resources and supports that can address the immediate basic and criminogenic needs of those we serve. Governmental and non-governmental agencies will truly collaborate and partner in an ongoing process of both identifying and meeting these needs. The ROC will serve as a central location where the people we serve can receive everything for STD testing, to bus passes, to job readiness training. All the services in Columbia that can reduce the likelihood people will reoffend and return to prison can now be found in one place.

Please note, The ROC will be staffed mostly, if not exclusively by Certified Peer Specialists. These are people with “lived experience”, those who have been there and done that, and who have completed a Department of Mental Health training to learn how to use their experience to help others. People receiving services at The ROC will be greeted by someone who has walked a mile in their shoes.