Freedom Institute

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A Letter from Robert L. Miller, Chairman, Freedom Institute

Dear Freedom Institute Community,

You have made a difference. Over the past two years of this continuing pandemic, you, as a member of our Freedom Institute community of alumni, families, friends, and professional partners, have helped sustain us.

We thank you!

The COVID-19 pandemic and the shift to telehealth have both positively and negatively altered the landscape of the recovery industry and, in turn, Freedom Institute’s role within it. Our nimble move to telehealth recovery services expanded our audience and provided individuals and families greater accessibility to treatment. At the same time, for-profit entities rushed into the business and our major referral sources (residential treatment centers) launched their own competitive aftercare programs. The recovery industry is in the midst of transformational change, and we must ask ourselves if there is still a role and need for a non-profit like Freedom Institute in this expanding, for-profit world of recovery?

Our answer is a resounding “YES!” And we know you agree.

There is a role for an organization that strives for excellence and exclusively to provide the highest quality substance abuse recovery care for their clients, not simply on delivering high returns to investors. There is a role for an organization that recruits and retains the most highly trained and experienced clinicians in the field. And there is a need for an organization that listens to clients to meet all recovery goals and constantly evolves and innovates its programs to offer the most up-to-date and effective recovery modalities.

Freedom Institute has been offering world-class clinical care for the past 45 years due to your generous philanthropic support. Telehealth is here to stay, and we are investing heavily in transforming our model from solely in-person to a hybrid of in-person and telehealth. However, this is not enough to sustain us. With your continued support, we see a future where Freedom Institute can transition from the leading provider of out-patient quality care in the New York metropolitan market to a leader on a national level. This is a thrilling proposition. Your donation will maintain us on our path to success and allow us to help individuals overcome the challenges of getting the help they need. We must continue to offer accessible and affordable care both in person and via telehealth and we need your support to do so.

The emotional stress of the last two years caused the number of people reporting symptoms of anxiety or depression to skyrocket and the onslaught of substance abuse issues continues.

Federal researchers reported that Americans are dying of drug overdoses in record numbers (over 100,000 in the past 12 months) due to lost access to treatment, rising mental health problems caused by the pandemic, and the availability of potent new street drugs (Overdose Deaths Reached Record High as Pandemic Spread, The New York Times, Nov. 17, 2021).

The need for Freedom Institute and our services is greater now more than ever before.

We hope you will continue to support our work and donate to Freedom Institute’s 2021 Annual Drive. Please click here or below to donate or mail your check to Freedom Institute, 515 Madison Avenue, 13th Floor, New York, NY 10022. If you have any questions or need help, please call 212-838-0044.

Thank you for your continued support.

With gratitude,

Robert Miller
Chairman

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