In this episode of The Pulse of Addiction, host Alex talks with Jason Rilogio, Founder and Executive Director of FAVOR Laurel Highlands, a fully peer‑run Recovery Community Organization (RCO) in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Jason shares his journey from early chaos and getting clean in 2010 to building a recovery community center, weaving peer support into reentry, and helping shape statewide policy as a Certified Recovery Specialist (CRS) and Certified Peer Specialist (CPS).

They talk honestly about:

• What a recovery community center actually looks like on the ground — drop‑in space, mutual‑aid groups, sober socials, wellness programs, and peer mentoring in a region hit hard by opioids and economic decline

• How Bridging the Gap connects people leaving jail to recovery housing, employment support, and ongoing peer services through partnerships with probation, parole, and local nonprofits

• The reality of being a peer leader and recovery ecosystem coordinator — building recovery capital, training peers, and pushing for peer‑supported services in mental health, substance use, and justice systems

• The gaps that still exist in rural recovery, from transportation and housing to long‑term behavioral health care and stigma in small towns

• What second chances should actually look like for people with lived experience who want to work in child care, recovery housing, treatment, and community leadership without being permanently defined by their past

This conversation is for anyone interested in peer recovery support, reentry after incarceration, recovery community organizations, rural addiction recovery, and the day‑to‑day work of turning personal recovery into community infrastructure.

Keywords naturally woven in: peer recovery, recovery community center, reentry program, sober living, addiction recovery Pennsylvania, recovery coaching, lived experience, harm reduction, behavioral health, rural recovery, opioid recovery, substance use disorder support.

• FAVOR Laurel Highlands (Recovery Community Center, Johnstown PA):
  https://www.favorlaurelhighlands.org

• Contact / leadership page (Jason as Executive Director):
  https://www.favorlaurelhighlands.org/contact/

• Bridging the Gap reentry initiative (Cambria County, PA):
  https://www.jbhknowledgeexchange.org/meet-the-cossup-grantees/cambria-county-pa

You can also find Jason via LinkedIn under “Jason Rilogio – Founder Executive Director, FAVOR Laurel Highlands” and through Pennsylvania peer support and behavioral health commission pages where he’s listed as a recovery ecosystem leader.

• The Pulse of Addiction on Spotify:
  https://open.spotify.com/show/69xIjWXGwEMYgFEPOItiZp

• Show site:
  https://pulseofaddiction.lovable.app

• Bake It Forward:
  https://bakeitforward.net

• Cedar Path:
  https://cedarpath.tech

Guest links – Jason Rilogio / FAVOR Laurel HighlandsHost & show links – Alex / The Pulse of Addiction