Break Free Recovery Scholarships
History of the Break Free Recovery Scholarship Program
The Break Free Foundation seeks to aid individuals and families struggling with their mental health, substance use, and co-occurring disorders, to find viable, quality treatment through tools and resources, education, support, harm reduction, and advocacy. We aid individuals seeking recovery through the Break Free scholarship fund which sends anyone who lacks the financial resources to attend a recovery center to do so at no cost to them.
In 2022 we sent 15 individuals to a recovery center through our two scholarship offerings: one is a general offering that anyone seeking recovery can apply to through our collaboration with 10,000 Beds, and the other one is the Sergeant Tyler Memorial fund for veterans and active service members to attend a treatment facility.
In 2023, we aim to expand our scholarships to include an offering to aid individuals in seeking behavioral health services, as well as to double our scholarship offerings.
Individuals who struggle with substance use disorders face more barriers to treatment than individuals with any other health issue. This is due to the stigma associated with substance use disorders in the health community and its behavioral impact on those diagnosed with them. Break Free aims to remove the financial barrier that accompanies substance use disorders by offering access to free substance use treatment through our treatment partners.
Our scholarship program allows marginalized and under-served groups the opportunity to access top-tier, evidence-based, extended-care treatment at no to low cost. We determine eligibility for the scholarship program through a number of different factors but mainly focus on low-income individuals with access to Medicaid/Medicare or with no insurance.
Apply for the Break Free Foundation Recovery Scholarship
You can apply for the Break Free Scholarship by either downloading the application and emailing it to team@breakfreefoundation.org with the subject line “Scholarship Application” or you can fill out the Google Form below.
Our Treatment Partners
The Break Free Foundation offers low to no cost recovery scholarships. For individuals who have insurance (i.e. Medicaid or Medicare), that is where the low-cost portion comes in where they would pay a co-pay through their insurance provider for access to outpatient programs. For the no-cost portion, we provide free substance use treatment by partnering directly with treatment providers.
Inpatient Treatment Partners:
We have partnered with the Recovery Centers of America's South Amboy campus to offer 30 days of inpatient treatment for any resident within the 50 States of the United States of America.
Outpatient Treatment Partners:
For residents of New Jersey, RCA offers 30 days of outpatient treatment. Residents of New York, they can attend outpatient services from Realization Center for 120 days. Realization Center offers a comprehensive full-service, chemical dependency outpatient treatment center.
The Center, one of the oldest and largest in New York City, has offered all levels of care from intensive outpatient treatment to individualized group therapy for the past 34 years.
Sober Housing:
Shoreline Recovery is ideally situated on the CT shoreline and is centrally located between New Haven and Hartford, and all of our homes are located less than two hours from Boston and New York City. This allows for access to many local resources including a large variety of academic institutions, volunteer options, and vocational opportunities.
We offer safe, healthy environments for people where collaborative community networking is emphasized. Our homes offer the opportunity to live in a peaceful and quiet shoreline setting while focusing on recovery. We are a recommended choice for sober housing in the New Haven area.
Behavioral Health Services:
Moodfit is an online app that provides a comprehensive set of customizable tools like journals, breathing exercises, and more. They are offering 60 days of use of their app at no cost.
Rootd offers coping skills for individuals who suffering from panic attacks and anxiety attacks. They are offering reducing prices for the use of their coping skills app.
Our Recovery Scholarship Partners
The Break Free Foundation has partnered with non-profit organization 10,000 Beds who is joining us in our goal of being able to offer scholarships for treatment in all 50 States of the United States. 10,000 Beds has an extensive network of Western US treatment centers that provide them with access to scholarships for treatment.
10,000 Beds believes in the people they work with. In their eyes, they don’t save lives but hope and pray their scholarship recipients choose to save theirs.
10,000 Beds’ role in a person’s recovery is simple: they provide hope, support, and an opportunity for them to change their own lives. They do this by connecting those who need help with those who can help. The real heroes in our recovery scholarship program are the generous treatment programs that donate the scholarships. They deserve the credit and recognition. 10,000 Beds are simply the connectors.
Our funding comes entirely from individuals, foundations, and corporate donors. We do not have supplemental income from any other source. We are not a placement service for insured clients and we do not have a marketing contract with any treatment program. We are a 501c3 nonprofit organization; all donations are tax-deductible. Because our program expenses are covered by corporate donors and grants, 100% of all donations from individuals directly support our scholarship recipients.
When Can I Apply for a Recovery Scholarship?
Our online scholarship application is open every day through the use of our Google Forms. We make selections between the 27-28th of each month, and the recipient attends the center on the 1st of every month for a 30-day inpatient stay and a 30-120 outpatient program.
Please keep in mind that we are not a 24/7 instant access service, nor are we an overnight placement service or a hotline. If you are in an emergency situation, call 911 immediately. For crisis dealing with mental health, call 988.
If you have a pending application or are applying now, please note that your application will be prioritized in the order in which it is received, as well as a variety of other factors (i.e. bed availability, clinical assessment, etc.)
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Who Qualifies for a Recovery Scholarship
The Break Free Foundation Scholarship Program awards scholarships to individuals who meet the following criteria::
– You are in need of treatment for a substance use disorder or a co-occurring disorder,
– You are serious about entering into recovery,
– You are ready to commit to a minimum of 30 days in an inpatient treatment program,
– You have insufficient financial resources to cover the costs of treatment,
– You have exhausted other avenues of support for seeking out treatment,
If you meet the criteria above, please consider submitting our scholarship program.
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How to Apply for a Recovery Scholarship
Applicants can fill out our application through Google Forms (at breakfreefoundation.org) or by downloading the application and sending it to team@breakfreefoundation.org with the subject line “Scholarship Application”.
We encourage applicants to be genuine in how they answer the questions within the application. Scholarships are awarded based on these responses.
Break Free does not pay for or assist in paying for treatment in any way.
We partner with treatment programs across the country that donate a minimum of one treatment or “bed” per year.
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The Recovery Scholarship Application Process
Once your application has been received, you will receive an email confirmation.
At this time we are only accepting applications for residents in the state of New York and New Jersey.
If you are selected as a scholarship recipient, we will forward your application to one of our inpatient treatment program partners.
The treatment center that will be providing you with a scholarship will perform its in-house evaluation based on the responses on your application.
Once approved by the treatment center’s evaluation, they will contact you directly for a phone-based pre-screening. If approved, you will be notified at that time.
You or one of your loved ones/ emergency contacts will be asked to provide transportation to the facility. Other arrangements may be made on a limited basis.
Apply for the Break Free Foundation Recovery Scholarship
You can apply for the Break Free Scholarship by either downloading the application and emailing it to team@breakfreefoundation.org with the subject line “Scholarship Application” or you can fill out the Google Form below.
DISCLAIMER: Before contacting any individual, counselor, service provider, company, treatment center, program, or institution, the Break Free Foundation recommends that you do further research, request and contact references, consult your physicians, and check with your local Better Business Bureau.
We do our best to vet our Break Free Treatment Program Partners, the Break Free Foundation does not endorse any organization, product, or service; further, the Break Free Foundation assumes any liability or responsibility for the claims made by staff or ownership of our Treatment Program Partners, service providers, individuals, counselors, companies, treatment centers, programs, or institutions.