Ron Shelley is the chairman of the Concerted Care Foundation, a non-profit organization under the Concerted Care Group (CCG). The Concerted Care Foundation focuses on rehabilitating the community and servicing the needs of its clients and others in the Baltimore community; their focus is career development and education.
Ron believes that Methadone Maintenance Treatment works, but it is not the only way to resolve the opioid epidemic—integrated care, which CCG offers, also works. Its wrap-around services include methadone treatment, psychiatric treatment, primary care, therapy, and participation in group recovery programs.
Ron heads The Step Up Program; this unique accountability program has thirty clients who volunteer in the community as a way of developing vocational interests and skills. Recently, The Step Up members rejuvenated a local park in Baltimore, which included planting flowers and shrubbery and erecting a fence whose mission is to assist the community and beautify their neighborhoods.
A counselor or therapist refers The Step Up participants to the foundation; a part of the requirement is that these participants be drug free and have a career or education goal which they then work towards with the help of the program. The program graduates would then go into their careers, get a high school diploma, or go to college.
The Step Up participants also raise money, manage funds, seek projects and run the daily operations of the program. Seventy percent of the members are drug free for six months or longer. The Step Up Program is working, and Ron has seen many former opioid addicts achieve their measurable results.
The Step Up Program has three main goals.
- Focus on career development.
- Assist members with their recovery.
- Have a positive impact on the community.
The Concerted Care Foundation will continue to support The Step Up Program because they believe that its success is readily apparent in the current program participants and its graduates. The integrated approach stresses that each participant is a valued individual.
For more information, contact Ron Shelley at ronshelley@concertedcarefoundation.org, (443) 758-8186. Visit our website at www.concertedcarefoundation.org and https://www.facebook.com/concertedcarefoundation/.