Longmont’s Recovery Café has launched a 10-week pilot program in Boulder in partnership with the Community United Church of Christ. The pop-up began on June 11 and runs weekly from 5:30 to 8 p.m.
Each session features Recovery Café’s core offerings: a weekly communal meal, recovery circles and peer resource navigation. The goal is to create connection, consistency and hope for individuals recovering from substance use, mental health challenges, trauma or other life experiences.
The launch comes amid rising concerns about addiction and isolation in Boulder County, where consistent, community-based recovery support remains limited. Local leaders and residents have long called for more resources to help fill these gaps.
Read: ‘An angel without wings’: How one man is helping hundreds in Boulder County find the path to recovery
The expansion is a long time coming, according to program manager Chris Poma. “Since the beginning, we have heard from the community how the City of Boulder needs a café. It is so exciting to finally be able to provide our services even further across the county,” he said.
The Longmont Recovery Café opened in 2019 and is modeled after the original Recovery Café, founded in Seattle in 2004. Though the Seattle founders were part of a church group, Poma said they created a space that wasn’t a church or a religious program.
“It’s not like AA or 12-step. We’re an apolitical space, an areligious space. We’re open to religion, all pathways of recovery, [but] we really try hard to keep politics out, to keep conversation more about the spiritual and then get your religious needs met outside of the café,” he said.
For the Boulder pilot program, the Recovery Café team is joined by volunteers from Community UCC and the broader community. Each evening begins with time to connect over a volunteer-prepared dinner, followed by a recovery circle.
“The hope is that if it does well after 10 weeks, we can talk about something more permanent and hopefully grow a Recovery Café Boulder,” Poma said. He added that early interest has been encouraging and that a Boulder County Community Recovery Navigator is also helping support the program.
“He’s out in the community helping folks either get into treatment or doing peer support or getting connection to resources. So we do some of that as well, just outside of the café,” he said.
There are now more than 80 Recovery Cafés across the U.S. and Canada. Each café follows network guidelines but adapts to local community needs. Member cafes pay to be part of the network and get trainings and resources.
“That first café in ‘04 was really successful and people heard about it, so they created what’s called the Recovery Café Network. And what the network does is they just provide support in helping folks open up their own café,” Poma said.
The café uses a membership model. Visitors are welcome to drop in once as guests, and if they choose to continue, they’re asked to sign up for a free membership. Requirements include being sober while in the café, giving back in some way and attending a weekly recovery circle — a small group check-in to set goals, reflect on progress and offer mutual support.
Optional activities include art classes, TED Talk discussion groups, walking and gardening groups, and a meditation group.
“Also, members are more than welcome just to pop in on a Wednesday, grab a cup of coffee, say hello, and take off. It’s like you’re a member of something, like you belong,” Poma said. “It’s really to help folks get to know each other at a deeper level.”
He emphasized that the program is not only for people recovering from addiction, but also trauma, mental health challenges, homelessness and other issues.
“Everyone’s in recovery from something and we really don’t differentiate. A lot of it is mental health or loneliness, healthy relationships, obviously alcohol and substances. It’s whatever you believe you’re in recovery from — that’s the only requirement — and you’re in recovery when you say you are,” he said.
“We’re big proponents of harm reduction. Some of our members are maybe trying to, instead of drinking twice a week, maybe just once a week, or maybe they’re trying to put together that first week without drinking. We have members all the way from one day sober to years and decades, and everything in between, which is really nice.”
Another key piece is resource navigation, helping members access treatment, apply for Medicaid or connect with services like food pantries.
Finding a forever home
In addition to launching the Boulder pilot program, the Longmont Recovery Café is also preparing for a major move. The group recently purchased a space at Eighth and Main streets that will become its “forever home,” Poma said. Currently, the café operates out of the basement of Central Longmont Presbyterian Church.
The new location, formerly Hope’s Storehouse thrift shop, requires a significant remodel. Poma hopes to open it within 18 months. It will include two community rooms for recovery groups like AA, SMART Recovery, Recovery Dharma and a commercial kitchen to support in-house meals.
“Right now we have a really great network of volunteers called café cooks that bring in healthy, nutritious meals every day for 15 to 20 folks,” Poma said. “But when we move, we’ll be able to do that in-house.”
The new space will also feature a job readiness program, where members can get ServSafe certified and receive training for work in restaurants or cafes, including barista skills.
Correction, June 30, 2025 7:37 pm: An earlier version of this story misstated the nature of the partnership between Recovery Café and Community United Church of Christ (CUCC) in Boulder. The church does not close its space for the program but supports it by providing volunteers and connecting members of its community to the services.
