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Mobile App Serves as Recovering Addicts’ Equivalent to Facebook

Today, about 2,500 people use the test version of iRecoverApp to find and instant-message other recovering addicts in their area.

(TNS) -- In New Orleans a few years ago for a Patriots-Saints game, Jack Kelly found himself surrounded by a group of friends who were all drinking, reawakening memories of a past he would rather have forgotten.

When he was 16, he became hooked on OxyContin, a painkiller he’d been prescribed for a hockey injury. And when the prescription ran out, he went looking for more on the street, only to find he could buy heroin for a fraction of the money.

What followed were years of addiction, homelessness and drinking until, at 22, with nowhere else to go, he checked himself into a detox program, followed by a seven-month stay at the Boston Rescue Mission, a rehab center he credits with helping him recover.

But the real test came afterward, at moments like the one in the French Quarter, when everyone around him was drinking.

“I was looking for other people who were in recovery, and that’s when it occurred to me: There’s an app for everything else,” said Kelly, 34. “There should be one to connect people like me, so when you’re in situations like this, you can find other people who’ll make you feel safe because they can relate.”

After six years as Charlestown’s neighborhood liaison to former Mayor Thomas M. Menino and an unsuccessful run for Boston city councilor, Kelly and a technical team of two began work last year on iRecoverApp, the recovery community’s equivalent of Facebook.

Today, about 2,500 people, mostly from New England, use the test version of the free mobile app to find and instant-message other recovering addicts in their area.

“You always need a contingency plan to fall back on, so having the app in your back pocket can be huge,” said Sean Regan, 32, of Swampscott, who’s been clean and sober for almost six years.

“When I have moments of weakness, I’m able to nip it in the bud sooner by talking to someone who’s going through the same struggle. Without the support of people, I wouldn’t have made it as far as I have today.”

Kelly plans a formal launch this fall, when New Englanders will be able to connect with detox centers, therapists and recovery coaches, who’ll pay a fee to be listed on the app.

In the meantime, he’s working to raise money for iRecoverApp, one of 128 finalists chosen out of a field of more than 2,200 applicants to receive free office space and mentoring this year in Boston’s annual MassChallenge startup accelerator.

“We’ve had inquiries from anyone who has any type of addiction, including eating disorders,” Kelly said. “So once we get iRecoverApp off the ground, we may make it accessible to people recovering from other addictions, or create a different app for them altogether.”

©2015 the Boston Herald. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.