Everyday Miracles Peer Recovery Center opened in 2008 in downtown Worcester. The group was meant to create an environment free of stigma and judgment.

“Back then there wasn’t too much,” said Bridget Del Rio, community outreach coordinator. “They started off by sitting on milk crates — as simple as that.”

Soon after, the group pitched themselves to Spectrum Health Systems and opened a recovery center. Spectrum Health still today serves as Everyday Miracles’ host agency, and the organization is funded through the Bureau of Substance Addiction Services.

Now, Everyday Miracles continues to empower and lead through workshops, trainings, services, events, and meetings that help individuals support one another through recovery.

“We’re an all recovery-based model,” Del Rio said. “What that means to us is that we accept all pathways. The best part about it is that it’s a peer-to-peer, member-driven center.”

The peer-to-peer set up means that any decision made within Everyday Miracles is brought to community meetings. Individuals are able to vote weekly in a hybrid setting — either over Zoom or at the center, at 25 Pleasant Street.

“Everything that you see on our calendar has been decided by our community,” Del Rio said. “

There are meetings and groups daily for people, including music therapy, recreation time, game nights, anger management, book clubs, and more.

Four staff members with their own lived experiences keep what Del Rio described as “structured modeling.” They assist with programming and supporting resources the individuals need that come to Everyday Miracles.

“For being a woman in recovery for over ten years, one thing that’s stayed strong is that change is all the time — perceptions, actions, things like that,” Del Rio said. “I try very hard every day to not to assume that I can fully understand anybody or relate to them because nobody’s 100 percent the same.”

Del Rio said that different struggles and aspects tie into people’s addictions. Sometimes she is able to relate and sometimes she can’t, but Del Rio said that her job is to support.

“A struggle is a struggle,” Del Rio said. “Overcoming something that has ultimately taken everything away from you and trying to change says a lot for sure.”

In addition to the staff, some are considered Learn, Earn, And Progress (LEAP) Members at Everyday Miracles. These people come and volunteer on a schedule and are determined to lead by example and enforce Everyday Miracles’ mission and code of ethics. They earn a stipend each month.

“It’s kind of their beginning stages of going on to their next step in whatever their recovery looks like” Del Rio said. “They run groups. They do trainings with us and stuff like that.”

Other Everyday Miracles members might just come once a day or week for a meeting or a quick cup of coffee, according to Del Rio. Recovery coaches are also available for those who are interested, and optional recovery coach training is paid for by Spectrum Health after two years of recovery.

“It becomes a beautiful family,” Del Rio said. “That’s exactly what we try to turn it into.”

That family and support system became a big fallback for a lot of people who are a part of Everyday Miracles over the past few months, due to the pandemic.

“It’s been in two. You have addiction that’s going 100 percent against this pandemic,” Del Rio said. “Substance abuse is saying reach out, don’t be alone. Have one-on-one meetings. Then the government is saying shelter in place.”

Del Rio said that Everyday Miracles went on “overdrive.” People needed more than a 40-hour work week. The organization hosted check ins, music therapy over Zoom, and coordinations with the Mental Health Task Force and Mayor.

“We were on 100,” Del Rio said. “People that we would meet yearly before, we would meet weekly over Zoom, with people looking for shelter, assistance, safety plans for moms and dads that didn’t have anything or have fallen off. It was scary.”

But Del Rio said that the whole County of Worcester was able to come together.

“I think the pandemic has made us stronger,” Del Rio said. “It’s not a matter of this organization and that organization. We’re together.”

For Del Rio, she is proud of the organization’s ability to give back to a community that “we took from.” Every year, there is a recovery celebration walk in Worcester, for example, that recognizes the struggles and triumphs of the individuals in the organization.

“I call us the Heart of Worcester,” “It’s so far from what you hear about a job center, shelter, or a hot meal pantry. This is somewhere where you’re accepted how you are. It builds a certain amount of self-esteem and trust with people that might not have learned what those things are.”

Everyday Miracles is open on Pleasant Street in Worcester Monday through Saturday starting at 8:30 a.m. Monday, Thursday, and Friday are until 6 p.m. Tuesday it is open until 5 p.m. Wednesday is until 8:30 p.m., and Saturday they are open to 3 p.m.