Alternative Peer Group Las Vegas​

Building Stronger Communities – One Family at a Time! We believe in ALL paths to recovery!

Alternative Peer Group Las Vegas - an introduction!

Our Mission

The mission of TINHIH’s Alternative Peer Group (APGLV) is to create a culture that is recovery friendly for youth. To promote healthy time management activities; to provide a clean, safe environment that will encourage participation from youth. To introduce alternative ideas about recovery, driven by peer mentors.

DISTANCE LEARNING

APGLV is supporting our participants with Distance Learning. On-site tutoring which will provide a safe and secure learning environment during the COVID-19 restrictions.

Recovery Programming

We offer many programming options from the Recovery Leadership Academy, Community Reinforcement, Overdose Prevention, Family Groups, Yoga and have began to implement our KASH recovery system to improve the Knowledge, Attitude, Skills and Habits of our participants to help them achieve sobriety and maintain it.

Equine Therapy

APGLV offers a nature based therapeutic service known as Equine Therapy which incorporates horses into the therapeutic process. People engage in activities such as grooming, feeding, and leading a horse while being supervised by a mental health professional to develop skills such as emotional regulation, self-confidence, and responsibility.

Our Mission

The mission of TINHIH’s Alternative Peer Group (APGLV) is to create a culture that is recovery friendly for youth. To promote healthy time management activities; to provide a clean, safe environment that will encourage participation from youth. To introduce alternative ideas about recovery, driven by peer mentors.

DISTANCE LEARNING

APGLV is supporting our participants with Distance Learning. On-site tutoring which will provide a safe and secure learning environment during the COVID-19 restrictions.

Equine Therapy

APGLV offers a nature based therapeutic service known as Equine Therapy which incorporates horses into the therapeutic process. People engage in activities such as grooming, feeding, and leading a horse while being supervised by a mental health professional to develop skills such as emotional regulation, self-confidence, and responsibility.

RECOVERY PROGRAMMING

We offer many programming options from the Recovery Leadership Academy, Community Reinforcement, Overdose Prevention, Family Groups, Yoga and have began to implement our KASH recovery system to improve the Knowledge, Attitude, Skills and Habits of our participants to help them achieve sobriety and maintain it.

A new, innovated after school program for youth

JOIN OUR MISSION IN BRINGING FAMILIES BACK TOGETHER!

APG LAS VEGAS SCHEDULE

APG Schedule March 2024

Client Portal

Login to the TINHIH Las Vegas Outpatient Services Client Portal.

OUR GOAL

To introduce a program that is accepting of all paths to recovery.

FIRST LET’S

Discover

Join us in this ground breaking initiative on combating teen substance use disorder. By combining recovery related activities with peer mentors that can provide healthy alternatives for time management.

NOW LET’S WORK

Volunteer

Our mission cannot be achieved without "buy in" from the community. Join TINHIH's army of volunteer heroes!

IT’S UP TO US

Change

"If not us - Who? If not now - When?" ​- John F. Kennedy

STAFF

Meet the Alternative Peer Group Las Vegas (APGLV) team.

JOSEPH ENGLE

Founder

Joe’s family moved to Las Vegas in 1978 when he was 11 years old. He graduated from Western High School in 1985 and has worked for Safe Electronics since 2002 as an IBEW Low Voltage Senior Technician. Joe’s 19-year-old son Reese died in 2011 due to an overdose of heroin. The unbearable loss and profound pain that Joe experienced tormented him for a year. Upon the first “Angel Anniversary” of Reese’s death, a group of grieving parents with similar stories decided that they needed to help other families impacted by the opioid crisis. In June 2013, the nonprofit There is No Hero in Heroin Foundation formed to provide support and financial assistance for those seeking long term sobriety from opioid addiction. In the last five years, TINHIH Las Vegas has become a leader in the recovery community as well as a vocal advocate for sustainable recovery programs at the local, state and federal level. Along with Board Members Donn Jersey and Jeffery Horn, Joe advocated for the creation of the Clark County School District’s Mission High School in downtown Las Vegas which opened in the Fall of 2017.

JEN REID

Peer Recovery Support Specialist / Tutor

Jen moved to Las Vegas in 2015 from her hometown of Troy, Michigan. She is a Michigan State Graduate who taught Elementary School for twenty years. She has a Master’s degree in Education from Marygrove College and has been tutoring privately in Las Vegas for four years. Jen believes strongly in recovery and actively participates in her own. She is a member of a twelve step program and attributes it to getting it to where she is today. She is a certified Peer Recovery Specialist who plans on opening her own business in the recovery field one day. In her leisure time she enjoys working out, hanging out with her family of her boyfriend and cat, reading, attending meetings, and running.

EBONI JEWEL SEARS

Peer Recovery Support Specialist / SMART Recovery Facilitator / Veterans Advocate

Eboni grew up immersed in the Gullah culture in the Low-Country of South Carolina. But she has lived in 30 cities over the years, from Boston to Long Beach and everywhere in between.
Her resume is as diverse as her list of residence. Her first job out of high school was as a news reporter for WGTN in Georgetown, South Carolina. She’s done everything from an enlistment in the US Navy, tractor-trailer truck driver, network marketing professional, as well as serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA.
She credits her participation with SMART Recovery for giving her the tools she needed to start her journey into long-term recovery, which began in 2007. She’s currently the SMART Recovery Facilitator for the teen and adult meetings public meetings at APG.
Eboni is working toward certification in addiction counseling and currently a Ph.D. student in Transpersonal Counseling. Her professional areas of interest are process addiction and positive psychology.

JOI SEARS

SFP Program Director / Operations

Joi Sears is a dedicated ally to the recovery community. Even though she is not in recovery herself, she has felt the effects of addiction throughout her life. Joi is currently serving as an AmeriCorp Vista, working with There Is No Hero In Heroin to create sustainable programs. Her lifetime goal is to be a Clinical Psychologist, working with teens that struggle with addiction and their identity. Joi is a lover of all things, but most of all, her work!

JENISE JOHNSON

Peer Recovery Support Specialist / Clinical Manager

Jenise Johnson was born in Washington State but spent her adult life in Phoenix, Arizona, where she attended Arizona State University and The University of Phoenix. Jenise received her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Arizona State University in 2005 and her Master of Arts in Counseling from the University of Phoenix in 2010. Jenise specialized in trauma counseling, working with both victims of sexual abuse and youth with maladaptive sexual behavior. Jenise also worked with incarcerated men with maladaptive sexual behavior as well. Despite having specialized in trauma for many years, Jenise is no stranger to working with people who have developmental disabilities, substance use disorders, etc.
Jenise is a person in long-term Recovery and is a proud member of Alcoholics Anonymous.

GIUSEPPE RUSSO

Peer Recovery Support Specialist / Clinical Manager

Giuseppe Russo is a young adult in long-term recovery. He grew up in San Pedro California and moved to Las Vegas in 2011. When he moved to Las Vegas he got into drugs. He got sober at 15 on Feb 21, 2020. When he got out of rehab, he went to a High School called Mission High School. He heard about Alternative Peer Group through Mission High School in 2021. Alternative Peer Group helped him stay sober and to find a better way to deal with his feelings. In 2022 he became an employee at Alternative Peer Group. He wants to work at Alternative Peer Group to help people the way they helped him.

PROGRAMS

Our goal is to introduce a program that is accepting of all paths to recovery.

Objective: provide non-clinical peer support, which can include activities that engage, educate, and support the individual as they make the necessary changes to recover from substance use disorder.

Program Descriptions: Allows participants to relate with the Peer through similar life experiences. There is a shared understanding, respect, and mutual empowerment between participant and Peer. The Peer’s mentor the participants by encouraging, empowering, and assisting them in their recovery and achieving the different goals they have for their life.

Objective: To offer support in a group setting where peers can share their addiction recovery experiences with an emphasis on the hope and healing, regardless of the substance or behavior that is at the root of our addiction.

Program description: Introduce adolescents to all pathways to recovery so they can navigate and take responsibility for their own recovery. Create bonds and comradery through sharing each-others experience. Encourage positive peer pressure to sustain recovery.

Objective: Introduce participants to recovery through the 12-steps.

Program Description: Encourage participants to find a sponsor and complete the 12 steps, attend daily 12-step meetings, share their experience strength and hope with their peers and remain abstinent.

Objective: Empower participants to become their best self.

Program Description: Utilize books with strong female/male roles to find similarities and differences to their own lives. Discussion on what the character could have done different/better, and also what she did right/good. Expression of self through different activities like learning positive self-talk, painting, writing, vision boards, etc.

Objective: Learn to express oneself through creative outlets.

Program Description: Express emotions and feelings through different art forms such as; poetry, painting, drawing, vision boards, and a variety of crafts.

Objective: Learn basics of cooking and do it yourself projects for home.

Program Description: Allows the participants to work together as a team to create and learn different recipes to make on site and take home to their families. Life skills also encourages them to have fun creating home décor crafts such as potpourri, bath bombs/salts, wall décor, changing lightbulbs, hanging shelves, changing locks and door handles, installing appliances, mounting televisions ETC.

Objective: To aid participants in relaxation, assist in the body’s natural healing processes, and develop emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being. It is also said to induce deep relaxation, help people cope with difficulties, relieve emotional stress, and improve overall wellbeing.

Program Description: Participants will participate in a Recovery Reiki circle led by a certified Reiki practioner once a month.

Objective: Learn how to calm the mind and body through movements and mediations.

Program Description: Participants will learn yoga poses, breathing, and relaxation exercises which cultivate a calm mind, increase strength and flexibility, improve gross and fine motor skills, improve concentration, and help them understand how to identify and manage their feelings.

Objective: Learn about proper nutrition, proper workout techniques, and how to have fun being active.

Program Descriptions: Participants will learn what a nutritional diet consists of. They will also join in team building and mood enhancing workouts such as; relay races, sports activities, and in house workouts with resistance bands, kettle balls and other sports equipment.

Objective: Have fun by creating dialogues and team building through a variety of games.

Program Description: Participants enjoy a variety of games that will help them better get to know one another, build and grow as a team, and create better communication and problem-solving skills. Some of the games include card games, board games, trust activities, ice breakers, sports, video games, and more.

Objective: Learn how to become mindful of the present moment to help ease one’s stress of life.

Program Description: Practice concentrating focus in order to increase awareness of the present moment, reduce stress, promote relaxation, and enhance personal and spiritual growth.

Objective: Empower participants through personal and physical experiences utilizing horses.

Program Description: Participants experience a hands-on approach under the supervision of a mental health professional and an equine professional. The participants are given the space to project and analyze their situations, make connections, and find their own solutions. Since the solutions are personally experienced in conjunction with intellectual understanding, they tend to be deeper, more profound, and longer lasting.

Objective: Learn, express, and create through movement.

Program Description: Learning and creating new dances to help improve the condition of the heart and lungs, increase muscular strength, endurance and motor fitness, create stronger bones, improve coordination, balance, agility and flexibility, improve general and psychological wellbeing, and promote better social skills.

Objective: With rigorous training, interpersonal dialogue and expression, and the acquisition of goals through dedication, the social circus has the ability to alter the lives of at-risk youth. Autonomy, solidarity, self-esteem, physical fitness, communication, and adaptability are some of the skills learned and practiced.

Program Description: Through the dynamic approach of art-based education, the “Social Circus” seeks to expand the opportunities of and teach valuable skills to marginalized youth. The Social Circus recognizes and values the role of art and culture as powerful agents in the education of at-risk youth, producing knowledge, and promoting the interchange of ideas and experiences, impacting society and the public organizations responsible for youth education.

Objective: Focuses on technique, discipline and conditioning that fosters communication and teamwork among their peers.

Program Description: Learn basic boxing skills and techniques. Class includes calisthenics, shadow boxing, bag work, sparing and basic self-defense.

Objective: Participants will communicate through speaking, listening, and writing for different audiences and purposes.

Program description: Participants will write with clarity, purpose and creativity. Producing short story scenes that include use of imagery, characterization, and elements of plot development.

Objective: Participants will engage in fun and exciting recovery-based activities with their peers to promote a meaningful and sustained recovery.

Program Description: Recovery Jeopardy, Recovery Bingo and 12 Step activities (participants find creative ways to implement various steps in different games).

Objective: To inspire young people to succeed in a global economy.

Program Description: Junior Achievement is the largest organization dedicated to educating students in K-12 about entrepreneurship, work readiness and financial literacy through experiential, hands on programs. Students put these lessons into action and learn the value of contributing to their communities.

Objective: Participants will get the opportunity to receive specialized training to gain understanding and skills to acquire a job, driver’s license or general knowledge to lead healthy lives.

Program Description: CPR, DMV Training, Sex Ed, Health Card Training ETC.

Objective: To expose participants to service work and community outreach through volunteering at various Non-Profits in Las Vegas.

Program Description: Participants will volunteer at various non-profits in Las Vegas and provide vital services such as feeding the homeless, help organize merchandise that raises money for housing and treatment, raise donations for various food and clothing drives, and work side by side with community partners at events to raise awareness about prevention, recovery and services.

Objective: Help participants to identify and fulfill their life potentials through a holistic self-analysis approach. Providing guidance and assistance on how to set positive life goals and achieving them. Enabling people to build on their confidence, feelings of self-worth through mentoring support.

Program Description: Each workshop is designed for participants and provides exercises to promote self-awareness and focus on specific areas of your life: physical, spiritual, emotional, financial, and especially recovery. It empowers youth to take responsibility for their actions and decisions and encourages positive relationships through open dialogue around these issues with their peers.

Objective: To create a meaningful learning opportunity, particularly for students who may otherwise be disengaged with traditional learning environments through film making.

Program Description: Film Making for Young Minds is designed to introduce adolescent students to the fundamentals of film making over an 8-week period. Film making provides opportunities for students to authentically work through challenges, develop a plan, and complete a project among peers with a tangible finished project, a film of their own creation.

Make A Donation Today

Donations are an important part to ensure our program runs well. Your donation will go towards supplies needed, field trips, etc.