Niyyah Recovery Initiative

Niyyah Recovery Initiative  nonprofit which aims to bridge the gap from treatment to the community. Clients need support after treatment and Niyyah will help connect client to community engagements.

 Mission: Niyyah Recovery Initiative establishes to provide a holistic approach to healing and recovery from substance use and mental health while reducing, shame and stigma in the Immigrant Refugee communities in Minnesota.

 Vision: Niyyah Recovery Initiative envisions a community where recovery from substance use and Mental health recovery is promoted through faith, family and building relationships through prevention and peer recovery support.

How it all got started:

My name is Farhia Budul and I am an East African woman in long term recovery. What this means to me is that I can be a productive member of society and have a healthy relationship with my family. It means not being defined by the criminal justice system and it means being my authentic self. As an East African female growing up in an unfamiliar world, I lost my higher self. My parents did not speak English and did not understand addiction. I struggled year after year due to shame and stigma. I become someone I never thought I would become. Addiction took over my life, I felt loss and hopeless. This cycle of addiction continued for many years because I did not have the resources to achieve recovery through peer support and culturally specific recovery programs. This cycle of addiction came to an end because I found recovery. My story of recovery gave me back my life, values and traditions.

The East African community is struggling with substance use disorders. The young adults are impacted, and our elders are heartbroken and lost and do not know where to turn. They lack understanding and education about substance use disorders. Furthermore, the opioid epidemic has been greatly exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Forced isolation has left thousands of East Africans severely disconnected from practically any available option to seek and/or begin recovery. For some young adults, it was too late. There were many East African young adults who overdosed on opioids. This community lacks culturally specific recovery programs. 

 You might be thinking what I might need from you?

I established the Niyyah Recovery Initiative for East African immigrant refugees in the community and we need your help. I can’t do this alone. Niyyah Recovery Initiative is a nonprofit 501(3) recovery community organization which helps individuals in the community find sustain recovery at the community level. We do this by offering non clinical outreach and education about substance use disorders, by sharing our recovery story with others and offering help and healing. 

This is a non clinical service raising awareness and education around substance use disorders. We provide peer recovery support and All Recovery meetings as well as get people to talk about recovery and have focus groups for moms. This will help break barriers including shame and stigma. We need your help. We really do. It’s hard enough being a Muslim women in the USA trying to navigate through bureaucracy and then here we are advocating for recovery too. I know we can do this. It’s not gonna be easy but we are up for the challenge. 

 This community needs you and it’s up to us to make a difference for our immigrant refugee communities in Minneapolis that is struggling with addiction. Niyyah Recovery Initiative (NRI) is the only program in the Nation that aims to provide culturally specific peer recovery services for this target population. Did you know the Arabic word for the noun “seeds” is the same as the Arabic word for the verb “intended”? So the Arabic word for seed is related to Niyyah which means “intention”. They come from the same roots and come from the same origins. Our intentions are like seeds and they contain the potential to grow into a strong fruitful tree that lasts for generations. Niyyah intents for others to achieve sobriety so future generations don’t have to struggle. 

 I hope to make this possible with your support. I can’t emphasize enough what it means for me to come out and share my recovery story with others.  I appreciate anything you can do to move this great work forward. 

Let's work together to promote Recovery. Let’s talk about Recovery and let others know that RECOVERY is possible and that RECOVERY works!

Sincerely,

Niyyah Recovery Initiative