Onlife Foundation raises funds to treat addiction, support sober living.
Help might seem just out of reach as families struggle to afford effective treatment for loved ones who are suffering. However, a private non-profit, Onlife Foundation, was founded in Flagstaff about a year ago to help soften this dilemma by raising funds and creating a network of partnerships that can provide innovative and varied resources for those in need.
“The goal really is trying to meet an audience that’s stuck,” said Onlife President and co-founder Roy DuPrez. “There are so many treatment programs out there, including a lot of expensive programs with minimal results. Families don’t even know what they getting into. We often have scenarios where the potential family may have good private insurance but not enough to cover their out-of-pocket or insurance policy deductions. We’re trying to help them bridge that, so they can participate in better quality programs.”
The motto of Onlife Foundation is “Placing the Impossible Within Reach.” Critical to the non-profit’s success are its partnerships with effective programs that have proven to be successful in helping individuals recover from addiction and other mental health conditions and go on to maintain sober and enriching lives.
DuPrez also started two programs in the Flagstaff area that are affiliated with and benefit from the efforts of Onlife Foundation – Back2Basics Outdoor Adventure Recovery and Beyond the Basics. The Back2Basics program is for young adult males, ages 18 to 35, who have substance abuse issues and are looking for a positive and meaningful life. Its success lies in a combination of concentrated direct care therapy and life-skill building. The program maintains four residential facilities for clients in Flagstaff and is a hybrid residential and outdoor adventure recovery program.
“Young adults truly benefit from various activities that are satisfying and engaging,” DuPrez said. “There needs to be some sort of carrot, not just another relapse prevention lecture. That isn’t going to do it for most young people at that age. My vision is we need to broaden their experiences and offer them an opportunity to see what life can look like while being sober.”
Adventures include trips to places like Moab, Utah, Grand Canyon, the Superstition Mountains and Sedona. Activities may feature camping, backpacking, kayaking and river rafting, with cross-country and downhill skiing in the winter.
Beyond the Basics is an additional six-month transition program that follows the Back2Basics program. It is focused on giving clients the groundwork to gradually transition from rehabilitation and recovery into living in the “real world” with long-term sobriety goals.
The roots of the Onlife Foundation story, as well as the Back2Basics and Beyond the Basics stories, are grounded in the longtime friendship of DuPrez and Sean Orlando that began in high school in Scottsdale and continued on to college in Flagstaff.
“We’ve been best friends since we were teens,” DuPrez said. “Sean’s always had an altruistic background; my family, too. We have a background of being of service that’s always bound us together. We both moved up here in 1993 for higher learning at NAU.”
The two were college roommates. “Coming of age together and facing the many social challenges as teens and young adults allowed us to connect around a shared perspective and common purpose regarding life in general,” Orlando said.
DuPrez majored in Latin American studies and Spanish, and earned his master’s degree in academic administration. Orlando majored in Spanish and earned master’s degrees in sustainable communities and oriental medicine.
Between 2000 and 2006, their first collaboration in Flagstaff was the Indigo Movement, which met in the historic El Divino Redentor church on South San Francisco Street in downtown Flagstaff and sought to prevent youth violence and delinquency through self-empowerment initiatives.
After almost a decade of working together on projects, the two men took separate paths: DuPrez moving into the field of recovery and mental health, eventually starting Back2Basics Outdoor Adventure Recovery in 2010; Orlando went on to establish his own clinical practice.
The Onlife Foundation is closely allied with the Back2Basics program with a direct line of financial aid and program support to those on the path to sobriety and recovery. “It’s composed of alumni families and community members who have their own professional backgrounds and want to do something to support those trying to get help and hopefully get into treatment,” said DuPrez.
A key member of the Onlife leadership team is co-founder Laura LeVee, who serves as treasurer on the board of directors. She says her son was greatly helped by the Back2Basics program. “Connor became an alcoholic while in college, and he didn’t get good treatment for many years,” she said. “He tried various inpatient and outpatient solutions, but all were for 90 days or so, at which point, he would quickly relapse. In addition, the short-term centers did not specialize in mental health issues, which Connor desperately needed. Indeed, most addicts really need mental health support in order to sustain sobriety.”
Connor completed the Back2Basics program last summer and has returned to school to finish his undergraduate degree. He now works full-time for a gym in Flagstaff.
“I am enormously grateful to Roy and his program, and I hope that Onlife can send many addicts to Roy’s program, as well as others, that specialize in long-term solutions,” said LeVee.
Currently, Onlife is planning community-based fundraising events, as well as pursuing grant opportunities, in an effort to support more people suffering from addiction and help them maintain sober lives. QCBN
By Betsey Bruner, QCBN
Courtesy Photo: Onlife is designed to help support young men seeking recovery through Back2Basics Outdoor Adventure Recovery and Beyond the Basics, which include outdoor activities like river rafting in their programs.
