Rebecca Mitchell is the Chief Advancement Officer at Adult and Teen Challenge USA — and a graduate of the very program she now helps lead. Before her national role, she spent over a decade running women's centers and served as director of the Walter Hoving Home in Garrison, New York.

In this episode, Marcel and Rebecca discuss what makes Teen Challenge different from conventional treatment, why long-term residential programs outperform short-term options, and how the program has adapted to the fentanyl era. Rebecca also shares her own recovery story and explains what families should know before enrolling a loved one.

Topics covered:

- Rebecca's personal journey from addiction to 16+ years in recovery ministry

- How Teen Challenge has evolved since 1958 to meet today's drug landscape

- What a typical day looks like inside the program

- Why spiritual transformation is central to lasting recovery

- Whether non-Christians can enroll (and why they often succeed faster)

- How Teen Challenge responds to critics of faith-based treatment

- The science behind long-term residential care

- Aftercare, community support, and what happens after graduation

- Admission process, costs, and how to find a program near you

Teen Challenge operates more than 210 centers across the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico, with over 1,000 locations worldwide through its international sister organizations.

Find a Teen Challenge program: teenchallengeusa.org

Call: 855-END-ADDICTION

From Prevention to Recovery is hosted by Marcel Gemme — advocate and founder of SUPE (Substance Use Prevention Education), a nonprofit delivering evidence-based prevention education globally.

Dr. Susan Murphy, President of the West Virginia Drug Intervention Institute, and Joe Murphy, inventor of the ONEbox, join Marcel Gemme to share how a single weekend of tinkering with a glue gun and a soldering iron became a life-saving kit now deployed in all 50 states.

West Virginia has been the ground zero of the opioid crisis for decades. Rather than waiting for the system to catch up, Susan and Joe built something different — a weatherproof purple box containing naloxone PPE kits and built-in video training in both English and Spanish. No QR code required. No cell signal needed. Just pull the tab, follow Jan Rader's instructions, and save a life.

In this episode:

- How Susan went from higher education to running a syringe service program — and why she never left

- How Joe witnessed an overdose of a prominent community member and spent the next 20 years trying to prevent the next one

- What is actually inside the ONEbox, and why every design decision was about eliminating failure points

- The Be The One campus initiative and how it reached all 29 West Virginia college campuses

- How Nashville law enforcement drove 15 confirmed reversals on a single strip of Broadway

- Why universities are now being sued for NOT having naloxone — and what Good Samaritan laws actually cover

- The harm reduction debate and where Susan and Joe stand

- What it takes to scale from 100 boxes to 35,000 — and what comes next

Whether you are a parent, employer, school administrator, or community leader, this episode will show you that naloxone belongs in your building, your car, and your home.

Learn more about the ONEbox and the Drug Intervention Institute: https://www.wvdii.org/onebox

From Prevention to Recovery with Marcel Gemme covers the full spectrum of substance use — from prevention education to treatment and long-term recovery. New episodes every week.

Connect with Marcel:

Website: https://www.addicted.org/podcast

SUPE: https://www.addicted.org/supe/

Susan Chubbs spent nine years working inside a residential rehab facility before moving into private consulting and online counseling. With over 33 years of personal recovery, she now helps Canadians navigate their treatment options while integrating natural health into her approach to healing.

In this conversation with Marcel Gemme, Susan shares what recovery really looks like from the inside out — the daily realities of working in a treatment center, the challenges of co-ed programs, and why she believes healing the body through vitamin therapy and natural approaches is often what makes recovery stick.

Susan and Marcel also dig into the state of addiction treatment in Canada, the gap between public and private options, and the very real danger of families waiting too long to act. Whether you're a professional, a family member, or someone thinking about getting help, this episode is packed with practical, straight-talking insight.

In this episode:

• What 9 years inside a rehab facility taught Susan about real recovery
• Why co-ed treatment programs come with unique risks
• How vitamin therapy supports physical healing in early sobriety
• The biggest misconceptions about rehab — cost, control, and success rates
• Public vs. private treatment in Canada: access, wait times, and quality of care
• Why "rock bottom" is a dangerous idea — and what families should do instead
• How to talk to a loved one who is struggling (the exact language that works)
• Short-term vs. long-term treatment: what length is actually enough?
• What it takes to build a recovery that lasts beyond the program

Connect with Susan Chubbs: Website: www.drugaddiction.ca Phone: 1-888-488-8434

From Prevention to Recovery with Marcel Gemme brings together professionals, advocates, and people with lived experience from across the addiction and recovery world. New episodes are released biweekly.