Wilton Manors resource offers a pressure-free, shame-free approach to methamphetamine use, chemsex, recovery, and community connection
WILTON MANORS, FL — A new community resource is taking a different approach to substance use, recovery and behavioral health in South Florida, creating a welcoming place where people can seek support before they reach a crisis.
Living Room, a new community wellness center in Wilton Manors, provides a low-barrier, non-clinical space for people navigating the intersection of substance use, chemsex, mental health challenges, and social isolation. Rather than requiring a diagnosis, a commitment to abstinence, or an identification as being “in recovery,” Living Room meets people where they are and helps them determine what support looks like for them.
The center was created in response to a significant gap identified through a recent community needs assessment supported by The Our Fund Foundation, the only LGBTQ+ community foundation in the Southeast United States. The assessment examined 52 data sources and engaged 53 community participants through focus groups, provider interviews, and other community input.
The findings underscored the need for specialized, LGBTQ+ affirming and low-barrier resources addressing methamphetamine use, chemsex, recovery, and related behavioral health challenges.
“The needs assessment confirmed what many people working in our community have been seeing firsthand,” said David Jobin, CEO of The Our Fund Foundation and a member of the Living Room Advisory Board. “There is a need for new approaches that reach people earlier, reduce stigma, and recognize the complex connections between substance use, mental health, sexual health, and social isolation. Living Room has the potential to become an important bridge between people and the resources they need.”
Filling a Gap in Care
Methamphetamine use presents unique challenges for individuals, families and communities. It can be connected to sexual behavior, trauma, isolation, and mental health challenges, while stigma and shame can prevent people from seeking support.
The community assessment found that methamphetamine is the third most common drug involved in overdose deaths and identified increasing emergency room visits and criminal justice involvement associated with its use. It also highlighted connections between methamphetamine use, HIV and STI transmission, with particularly significant impacts among men who have sex with men and an increasing impact among transgender individuals.
At the same time, South Florida has limited specialized resources designed specifically around the intersection of methamphetamine use, chemsex and LGBTQ+ affirming recovery.
“People don’t always see themselves reflected in traditional treatment settings,” said Michael Rohrs, executive director of the Living Room. “Someone may not consider themselves an addict. They may not be ready for treatment. They may simply be questioning their relationship with substances, feeling isolated or looking for someone to talk to. Living Room gives them a place to start without judgment.”
Connection Comes Before Treatment
Living Room is built around a simple philosophy: Connection comes before treatment.
The center is not intended to replace clinical treatment or existing behavioral health and recovery services. Instead, it serves as a front door to support and a bridge to the broader network of resources available throughout South Florida.
Visitors can connect with peers, explore recovery options, receive help navigating community resources, and access referrals for housing, mental health services, HIV and STI testing, and specialized treatment.
Planned programming includes chemsex recovery groups, expert-led multi-week workshops, community meals and social activities, peer-led discussions, life-skills programming and resource navigation. Living Room will also develop partnerships with treatment providers, healthcare organizations, recovery organizations, HIV service providers and social service agencies.
The center’s approach incorporates harm reduction, motivational interviewing, peer support and recovery coaching, trauma-informed interventions, LGBTQ+ affirming care and connections to established recovery resources such as SMART Recovery and Crystal Meth Anonymous.
A Different Kind of Community Resource
Living Room recognizes that recovery is rarely a straight line and that people move at different speeds.
Its model is based on radical acceptance, lived experience, trauma-informed support, and community connection. The center’s guiding principles are welcoming, unconditional, discreet, grounded and expert.
“Meaningful change often starts long before someone enters a treatment program,” said Rohrs. “It can start with a conversation, a meal, a support group, or simply finding a place where you don’t feel alone. Living Room is designed to create that first point of connection.”
The center welcomes people who are exploring change, seeking information, supporting a loved one, considering recovery, or simply looking for community.
Building a More Connected Community
Living Room also recognizes that no single organization can address the complex needs associated with substance use, mental health, housing, sexual health, and recovery.
The center is designed to complement existing services throughout Broward County and South Florida by helping people navigate the systems already in place and creating stronger connections among community-based providers.
From its inception, Living Room plans to measure its impact through participant outcome data and standardized assessment tools. Measures will include connection to services, mental well-being, recovery outcomes, and reliance on crisis services.
“We want to know whether we’re making a meaningful difference,” said Jobin. “That means listening to the people we serve, measuring outcomes and continually improving how we respond to the needs of our community.”
Located at 2890 N. Andrews Avenue in Wilton Manors, Living Room is committed to creating a place where people can seek support without fear of judgment or stigma.
No labels. No judgment. No prerequisites.
Just connection, support, and community.
About Living Room
Living Room is a drop-in community wellness center built around a simple philosophy: Connection comes before treatment.
Its approach is grounded in radical acceptance, lived experience, trauma-informed support, community connection, and respect for each person’s goals and timeline.
The Living Room model was shaped by community research funded in part by United Way Broward and its Coalition on Behavioral Health and Drug Prevention and made possible through support from the Warten Foundation and ViiV Healthcare funding. The center reflects a community-driven effort to rethink how people access wellness and support, particularly those who may not feel comfortable or well served by traditional systems.
About The Our Fund Foundation
Established in 2011, The Our Fund Foundation has grown into the third-largest LGBTQ+ foundation in the nation. As South Florida’s only LGBTQ community foundation, The Our Fund Foundation promotes philanthropy, manages enduring investments, and conducts meaningful grant-making to improve the lives of LGBTQ people in South Florida. For more information or to make a donation of any size, please contact The Our Fund Foundation at theourfund.org or call 954-565-1090.
President and CEO of The Our Fund Foundation, David Jobin
