Fulfilling the Promise of CORS
The Community Outreach and Recovery Support (CORS) program is making a difference in Illinois for individuals who are experiencing homelessness or housing instability. This target population is more aware of and has greater access to treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) and other substance use disorders (SUDs), as well as to recovery coaching and resources, housing, and other supports.
Since the program launched in May of 2024, CORS subrecipients have been busy building partnerships with community providers, conducting outreach, engaging people with OUD/SUDS in peer and recovery-focused activities, and growing the peer workforce.
CORS Accomplishments
CORS: Building Partnerships
CORS subrecipients are hard at work building partnerships with their local community resources and organizations. Read about the work from Hour House, Nicasa Behavioral Health Services, Boone County Health Department, and Gateway Foundation.
CORS: Conducting Outreach
Chicago’s Serenity House and Rosecrance, Inc., two CORS subrecipients, are forming partnerships with local organizations and serving community members to conduct outreach.
CORS: Engaging the Community
CORS subrecipients, such as Haymarket Center, are engaging the community through their consistent presence and providing a safe atmosphere.
CORS: Growing the Peer Workforce
Read how CORS subrecipients, Serenity House and Boone County Health Department are growing the peer workforce.
The Ultimate Goal
The work of the 14 CORS subrecipients can be measured quantitatively, such as the decrease in overdoses in multiple “hot-spot” areas of Chicago’s most impoverished and dangerous neighborhoods detected by Trilogy, Inc. “The data collection integral to the CORS program has been quite the eye-opening and rewarding experience,” the Trilogy team shares, “We see in real-time the results of our efforts across zip codes.”
But the spirit of the program may be best described by an engagement specialist who provided warm handoffs to four clients with SUDs for inpatient treatment, all while dealing with her own significant challenges and trauma. “If we don’t take care of each other, nobody else will,” they said. “More than half of households on the South and West Sides of Chicago live in poverty and don’t always have enough food. That’s why I do what I do.” Their energy, resilience, and willingness are what drive the CORS program forward.