Recovery starts with community

By Jesse Sanchez. 

A national fundraising day is helping connect roofing professionals with treatment, mental health resources and a supportive recovery community. 

In this episode of Roofing Road Trips®, Paul Reed shares how Roofers in Recovery grew from a deeply personal understanding of what a second chance can mean. Paul, who has spent 34 years in the roofing industry, entered treatment for meth addiction in 2007 and has remained sober since August of that year. Looking back, he realized friends, family and scholarship assistance had made his treatment possible at a time when he could not afford it himself. That experience ultimately inspired him to find a way to give back to others facing similar circumstances. 

Paul explained the organization’s driving purpose, saying, “Our primary mission is to help put families back together.” That mission began when Paul and fellow roofing professional Eric Oberint paid out of pocket to send someone else in the industry to treatment. From there, Roofers in Recovery became a national nonprofit focused on helping people access treatment and build a path forward. 

Today, the organization connects people with a full continuum of care, including detox, residential treatment, outpatient counseling, telehealth services and continued care. More than 2,000 individuals have participated in programs through the treatment facility in southern Colorado. Paul reflected on how isolating addiction and mental health challenges can feel, saying, “I think that a lot of times when you're going through issues, be it mental health or addiction, from my personal experience, one of the biggest hells that you're going through is that you’re feeling so alone and you feel like no one gets it and no one understands.” 

That sense of community extends beyond treatment. Roofers in Recovery hosts Zoom recovery meetings, offers meetings at roofing trade shows and has developed mental health resources for workplace toolbox talks. Those efforts are designed to keep conversations about addiction and mental health visible within the industry and give people places to turn for support. 

National Roofers in Recovery Day, held on Friday, August 28, is the organization’s largest annual fundraising effort. Roofing companies are encouraged to install a project that day, cover their labor and material expenses and donate the remaining proceeds to Roofers in Recovery. Paul said the hard cost of sending one person through treatment is around $14,000. 

For those unable to contribute financially, sharing the organization’s message can still play an important role. Paul emphasized that even a simple act of sharing can connect the organization with someone who needs support, saying, “You never know who's going to see it, right? It's going to be that one person that sees it.” 

Listen to the podcast or Watch the conversation to learn more about how National Roofers in Recovery Day supports treatment, recovery resources and community for roofing professionals!