WOODS CROSS—Kendra Baum started using drugs as a teen then took up drinking. Now she is sober and wants to help others who are struggling with addiction. Baum opened the doors to SOL Recovery Community two weeks ago in time for National Recovery Month. It’s a place close to her heart where she hopes through treatment, people can find the joy she has found. 

It hasn’t been an easy road though. “I got married and my spouse struggled with alcoholism,” she said. “It was hard to watch him in his own recovery.”

Baum had been sober for about five years when she relapsed during her undergraduate studies. “I found out I was pregnant with my son the day before I graduated,” she said. “It’s one thing to put that in my body but to my unborn son’s body – that was not an option. I dusted off my tool box but my partner didn’t.”

It took years of experiencing him coming in and out of addiction, she said. “It’s hard being the wife of someone seeking recovery. When we’re in active addiction we don’t know what it does to our family. You can’t change the addiction but you can go with them to a recovery program. It helps you understand the addiction and how to be well as their loved one.”

Families need to be supported too, she said. “They need solutions for helping the addict and what needs to take place to get well. It’s a disease that affects the whole family. Without help it can reduce the possibility for long term recovery.”

For every 10 people in recovery there is one family member asking for help, said Baum. “It’s not just the one person who struggles with that addiction.”

After taking a break from school, Baum went back to finish her master’s degree. “I knew recovery and addiction is where I wanted to be,” she said. “I was working at Disability Services in Salt Lake and they knew there was something I was passionate about. So they asked what I wanted to do. I poured out my soul on paper. They said they were on board – ‘let’s do this.’”

Baum said creating SOL had been on her heart for a long time. “SOL is Latin for Sun. One of the things that was important to me was to consider the name for my company. Sun stands for the light in the darkness. My darkest depth was when I was in my addiction, I felt hopeless. If we’re living our truth it gives others the ability to live theirs.”

Members of the Davis Chamber Lakesiders watch as Kendra Baum cuts the ribbon to officially open SOL Recovery Community in Woods Cross. Photos by Becky Ginos

The sun rises every day, she said. “It’s a new opportunity to not be the same person. There’s always a new day.”

Baum said she doesn’t think there are enough options for mental health services. “People are being incarcerated when it’s really a mental health issue. It takes time. It’s a complex issue. We have so much further to go as a community.”

Counselors at the center will also treat people who are not just impacted by addiction, she said. “Since COVID we’re seeing extreme anxiety and fear that stemmed from it.”

Baum’s husband is two years in sobriety. “We don’t know who is going to become an addict,” she said. “They need family support to help them. Family members need to be ready for when they want treatment before they lose that window. Take the shame away before it kills the people we love.”

The more shame the harder it is for their loved ones to get better, said Baum. “Talk to each other. We should share with the people around us to see that we’re not as alone as we thought we were. But because there is no conversation we don’t know that.”

Baum’s husband and children are all supporting her with the center. “It’s in our own community that we live in. That is part of the reason we picked the location we did. We want to offer help to those around us and the service is a labor of love.”

SOL Recovery Community is located at 512 W. 750 South Ste A in Woods Cross. For more information visit sol-recovery.org.