Syracuse sober-active recovery center sees growing demand for community support

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — As hundreds gathered for the third annual Never Walk Alone 5K, the event’s message reflected a challenge many people face long after treatment ends: staying connected in recovery.

“Early on, it’s hard, right?” said Rob Kent, former general counsel in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. “They think about what they’ve done along the way. It triggers things, and they’re always exposed to opportunities to go back to things that they don’t want to do.”

That challenge is what inspired Henry Brigham to create Devin’s Rec Room, a Syracuse-based recovery community and fitness center that started as an outdoor hiking group in 2019 and has grown into an organization with nearly 600 members.

“It’s difficult for people in recovery to connect with each other,” Brigham said. “We have AA meetings. There are all sorts of recovery meetings, but they tend to be siloed. It’s hard to find outside support and find communities, large communities of people.”

The organization’s mission is to provide free fitness, wellness and social opportunities for people recovering from substance use disorders. Members can attend recovery meetings, exercise, play games or simply spend time in a sober environment.

The need remains significant.

While drug overdose deaths have declined nationally in recent years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still considers the United States to be in an opioid epidemic. Onondaga County experienced 62 opioid-related deaths in 2025, a decrease from 90 the year prior, according to county health data. 

Brigham says the center serves people recovering from all forms of substance use, not just opioids.

Recovery, he said, is possible for anyone willing to take the first step.

“All they need to do is get that 48 hours of sobriety, walk through the door and say, ‘I’m here,’ and we’ll welcome them.”

Recovery advocates like Kent say further decreasing overdose-related deaths will require bigger investments in long-term support services.

“You see all these places like Devin’s Rec Room, there’s just not enough of them,” he said. “Having a place like this where people who are in recovery can be together and work out – working out is good for, you know, physiologically – it’s just a really critical thing that we have organizations like this.”

Research supports that approach. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration says physical activity can improve brain function, boost self-esteem and self-efficacy, serve as a healthy coping mechanism and reduce the likelihood of relapse. Recovery experts also point to strong social connections as a key factor in sustaining long-term recovery.

For Cameron Blanchard, a member of Devin’s Rec Room for more than a year, those benefits became clear immediately after leaving rehab.

“I literally came the day after I got out of rehab,” Blanchard said. 

Before entering recovery, he described himself as isolated and struggling with addiction.

“I was living in a cold, dark apartment. Not social, just doing drugs all day,” he said.

Today, he says Devin’s Rec Room provides a place to spend time around people committed to sobriety.

“It’s just a guaranteed safe place,” Blanchard said. “Hanging around with the guys and playing pool, it’s awesome. Sometimes I just sit there and sit on the couch and talk to people. People come in and out all day, and when I’m working there, it’s nice to be able to talk to people.”

Brigham named the organization after his son Devin, who died from a heroin overdose in 2001. He himself has been in recovery for 33 years. 

“Everyone’s story is different,” he said. “You never really know a person until you hear their story, and until you feel what they have going on in their heart.”