"The Sydney Retreat, an important facility and a first for Sydney, really does owe its development to Sefa.
They are at the heart of the Sydney Retreat. The finance they have provided gives flexibility and certainty to this vital project.
Sefa have been terrific."
The Sydney Retreat (TSR) was established to address the urgent need for reasonably priced facilities for alcoholics and addicts. The organisation became an incorporated charity in 2015, with the goal of becoming a not-for-profit residential facility for recovery from drug and alcohol addiction.
Several of the directors have personal experience with alcoholism and drug addiction and also the most successful recovery methods available.
Led by a psychiatrist with specialist expertise in addiction treatment, the Sydney Retreat aims to bring about long-term solutions for addicts and their families.
The Sydney Retreat’s initial supporters contributed enough money to design a program based on the highly successful Retreat USA organisation, and buy a licence from them. A forgivable loan enabled them to secure their building in Stanmore, design the facility and lodge a Development Application for purpose built communal areas and accommodation.
Sefa has been working with TSR since 2015 with a focus on co-designing the most suitable funding structure for this new venture. Throughout the entire journey of putting the financial puzzle together, it was most important for Sefa to set TSR up for operational success. We achieved this by collaborating with CEO, John Malone, and his team to demonstrate demand from Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) community groups and referrals from rehab facilities with a wait list.
The Geoff and Helen Handbury Foundation has been a founding partner for TSR and, using a blended capital solution, ensured that the debt component for the retreat was affordable in the early days.
Sefa is excited to bring a community-led, affordable rehab model that has been operating successfully overseas in the US and NZ to Sydney, where over 350 AA communities are meeting weekly to fight battles with addiction.
Once open, the Sydney Retreat will offer 20 beds for a 30 day residential education program. The service will be approximately 75% cheaper than private clinics and up to 240 clients will benefit from their rehab each year. The program will provide round-the-clock trained counselling staff.
All staff will have at least three years recovery from alcohol or drugs and be well connected with the local AA community.
The Sydney Retreat's goal is for their clients to achieve deep engagement with the AA community. Research shows this is what will achieve long-term recovery. A study by the US Veterans Administration found that using cognitive behaviour therapy achieved 37% abstinence at 12 months after treatment. The AA program achieved 50% abstinence after 12 months, with 30-45% lower treatment costs.
