One Door in, One Door Out
MFH: Saving Lives One Visit At A Time
Author: Robert LaGuarina, Jr.
Date: July 3, 2021
Have you ever looked closely at the My Friend’s House logo? It’s a pronounced and direct design. The house is a simple structure with one door as the only means of egress – in or out. There are no other means of entering or exiting the house. One door in; one door out – the same door. That’s intentional. Leaves grow from the house on branches representing the myriad of opportunities and trajectories one’s life can take upon leaving the house. The whole design was developed with the fervent intent to convey the three core principles of My Friend’s House.
No one is denied entry for financial reasons.
The initial guiding principle of My Friend’s House – from the first day we opened our doors, up to and including the present, is to accept anyone and everyone seeking to break free of the bonds of addiction and co-occurring mental health disorders. Regardless of one’s ability to pay, our single door is open to everyone. It’s that straightforward and uncomplicated. If you look at our door, there is no doorknob; there is no lock. One may argue there is not even a door, and it is simply a portal, but that’s a discussion for another time and a book titled “The Road Less Travelled.” One can say our door opens effortlessly for everyone. No one is denied entry for financial reasons.
The second guiding principle of My Friend’s House is the “whole patient” approach. There’s only one house, one structure, one side in our logo for a reason. The systems of the body and the mind are interrelated and interdependent upon one another. Issues or problems within those systems cannot be compartmentalized and treated solely. Most importantly, we recognize addiction does not exist within a vacuum. Other mental health or physical challenges almost always precede the misuse of alcohol and drugs. My Friend’s House focuses on integrative care that puts the client (the house) at the center. By examining environmental, physical, mental, emotional, and social influences on a person’s health, vis a vis – the “whole patient” approach, we can treat addiction and co-occurring disorders to maximize health and well-being and minimize the chances of relapse.
The third principle conveyed in our logo is the one door in, one door out (same door) philosophy. It’s simple and direct. Beating addiction is not easy, but nothing of great reward is ever without effort. One has to do the work. That means coming through our door and consistently keeping the focus on yourself. There are no shortcuts, no deviations in your path, and no other means of exit. For many who come to us, there is nowhere else to go. That is why we have only one door in our logo. The same door you enter through struggling with addiction and other issues - is the same door that you exit from on your way to a new and healthier life.
At My Friend’s House, we like to say we save lives one visit at a time. It’s true, each visit gets one closer to a healthier life. It’s also about accountability. One has to show up to get better. One has to do something different because one can never expect to do the same thing over and over again and hope for a different outcome. If you want to grow beyond My Friend’s House, become part of the leaves in our logo that emanate from the house, and grow upwards, then you first have to come through our door. We are here. We are always here. Come grow with us.
