In 1995, five alcoholics opened the doors of the Mesa Club as a place for people battling alcoholism or drug addiction to meet as they work to get and/or stay sober.
Nearly three decades later, over 30 people joined the board of directors and local leaders to celebrate the newly renovated Mesa Club in Rio Rancho.
The Mesa Club, a nonprofit organization in Country Club Plaza, serves as the home to 12-step recovery meetings for all recovery groups.
The club has had several homes over the years but settled on Southern Boulevard in 2022. The new location, however, needed some love.
Sandoval County Commissioners Jay Block and Dave Heil each gave $5,000 from their discretionary funds to help renovate the building, which included fixing the electricity, floors, new paint, chairs and the kitchen.
Mesa Club President Sean Roberts, who is also the co-founder of Desert Mountain Healing in Rio Rancho, thanked his fellow board members and handymen for helping fix up the club. Roberts said Block and Heil were critical to the project.
“They are the ones who gave us the initial amount of money to get all of this work done,” Roberts said. “They are a big part of why the club is looking as nice as it is. And I want to take a minute to thank Jay. He’s been really responsive to the recovery community. Not only has he helped and is continuing to help the Mesa club, he’s helped us over at Desert Mountain healing several times. Jay Block seems to be very committed to really helping with the addiction crisis and we need that.”
Desert Mountain Healing, located in the same plaza on Southern Boulevard, is an intensive outpatient drug and alcohol treatment program. It’s an alternative to inpatient care that typically offers nine hours of treatment per week.
Block has given over $31,000 to the Mesa Club and Desert Mountain in the last two years. After Roberts thanked him, Block delivered an emotional speech about why places like the Mesa Club are so important. He also put the handymen back to work as he announced he is donating another $1,800 for new cabinets in the Mesa Club.
“This place has been near and dear to my heart, both Desert Mountain Healing and Mesa Club. Addiction and substance abuse, it hits every single family, and it hit mine multiple, multiple times. So it means a lot to me, because in New Mexico, we have so many issues with fentanyl here and substance abuse,” Block said. “Alcohol is a real problem in New Mexico. We’re the worst in the country, with alcohol abuse. We have an open border with fentanyl coming through and destroying our families. And fentanyl doesn’t care what race you are, how old you are, how young you are, how much money you make, what neighborhood you live in, it’s destroying families.”
The Mesa Club offers four meetings a day Monday through Saturday and three meetings on Sunday.
For more information, call 505-990-9593 or visit mesaclub.org.