THE RETREAT AT RAMAPO VALLEY

“Addiction is a life long journey. We see you and you’re not alone.”

Our Mission

Addiction management is a life long journey. Our mission is to foster holistic substance use programs that work for individuals and families. The October Foundation sheds light on substance abuse by destigmatizing addiction and promoting the effectiveness of mental health treatment through awareness, education, and supportive services.

A 2022 study found that 5.8 million of the 60 million Americans with a substance use disorder were hospitalized within the past year.

ANNALS OF INTERNAL MEDICINE

Our Founding Story — “28 Days”

What does it mean to truly love? I mean all of it. The joy and pain. The lessons it teaches about self-love, tough love, unconditional love. Every human being must have love to survive yet so many feel unloved. Consider those that suffer mental health issues, especially substance use disorder, they often feel like they’re not even worthy of love. This. Must. Change!

 

June 30th, 2019, TJ, my son told me he was addicted to opioids. Stunned I felt suddenly out of my body…there was me, there was TJ, and then another me overlooking the whole scene. I recall every detail of that day. I remember where he told me, I remember how he told, I remember why he told, and this visceral gut punch of my breath being sucked out of my body. I tried asking questions, but I just didn’t get it. What is he talking about?! What do you mean you are on medication and you are detoxing? It’s a prescription? And you’re addicted? And you’re detoxing, what!? How?

Feeling I might pass out, I kissed him on the forehead and said, I’ll be right back. I had to catch my breath, I needed air. Being outside my home felt safe. I sat on the bottom step of the patio, questions racing…What does this mean? What do I do? Who do I turn to, where do I go? Ok, slow down. First things first. I had to make sure TJ was safe and I had to call my husband, Jimmy, who was on a trip with our daughter. How do you start a conversation like that? `Hope you guys are having fun in Lake Placid, how’s Christina? She’is doing great, oh and by the way, TJ is upstairs detoxing from drugs we had no idea he was still taking’! But call I did. To Jimmy and to two other people I trusted, one of whom was a doctor who assured me, TJ will be safe to detox at home.

 

Let’s face it. The stigma of addiction is real. I let TJ detox at home that day because I was afraid if I brought him to the hospital there would be a record of this and people would find out. But that was a dangerous choice. The doctor’s consultation was brief and he only knew what I had told him. And trust me, I didn’t know much about addiction and mental health then. So, I hid a human being for 28 days from family members. Even his own brother didn’t know the truth until months later when had to explain to him why TJ wouldn’t be spending Christmas with us. Jim and I thought we had this under control, nobody needs to know, right? TJ will get the help he needs, come home, and everything will be back to normal.

How wrong we were! Naive and ignorant, substance abuse disorder is not something you fix. It doesn’t just go away overnight, or even in 28 days. It takes a lifetime. It is a lifetime for those who suffer. And it is a lifetime for family members. We did it the hard way.

 

Once you step on this ride, it is a roller coaster that doesn’t always end with a photo op—at least not the happy kind. There were approximately 105,007 total drug overdose deaths in 2023. And here in Bergen County, New Jersey, we alone have lost too many. It’s not just our youth who are affected, but the elderly, and many well intentioned people seeking chronic pain relief for whom use turns into tragic dependency.

Relief for TJ that October eventually came from professional, holistic treatment services involving a suite of therapies and family integration into what was not just “TJ’s problem” but what we viewed as a `family disease’. This is why Jimmy and I have dedicated ourselves to developing an integrative rehabilitation center right here in Bergen County. You need to heal as a family.

 

In partnership with Hackensack Meridian Health, we helped build The Retreat at Recovery at Ramapo Valley, a substance abuse and addiction treatment center where individuals can heal, with love, support and family. Doors opened in 2020 with an outpatient treatment program centered around person-specific care that places great value on enhancing the patient’s own motivation for recovery within the context of medical care, counseling and the compassionate support necessary for long-term recovery. In 2024, Ramapo treated 1,288 Outpatients and 990 Intensive Outpatients, with an 85% Patient Satisfaction score, and a near 80% program completion rate. That’s a lot of TJs experiencing recovery. And we’re not stopping.

Now in 2026, October Foundation is in Development for Phase II of The Retreat at Recovery at Ramapo Valley—an Intensive Inpatient treatment facility. The vision, in alignment with Hackensack Meridian Health, is to establish a Center of Excellence for adult addiction treatment and recovery.

Our Founding Story — “28 Days”

What does it mean to truly love? I mean all of it. The joy and pain. The lessons it teaches about self-love, tough love, unconditional love. Every human being must have love to survive yet so many feel unloved. Consider those that suffer mental health issues, especially substance use disorder, they often feel like they’re not even worthy of love. This. Must. Change!
June 30th, 2019(?), TJ, my son told me he was addicted to opioids. Stunned I felt suddenly out of my body…there was me, there was TJ, and then another me overlooking the whole scene. I recall every detail of that day. I remember where he told me, I remember how he told, I remember why he told, and this visceral gut punch of my breath being sucked out of my body. I tried asking questions, but I just didn’t get it. What is he talking about?! What do you mean you are on medication and you are detoxing? It’s a prescription? And you’re addicted? And you’re detoxing, what!? How?
Feeling I might pass out, I kissed him on the forehead and said, I’ll be right back. I had to catch my breath, I needed air. Being outside my home felt safe. I sat on the bottom step of the patio, questions racing…What does this mean? What do I do? Who do I turn to, where do I go? Ok, slow down. First things first. I had to make sure TJ was safe and I had to call my husband, Jimmy, who was on a trip with our daughter. How do you start a conversation like that? `Hope you guys are having fun in Lake Placid, how’s Christina? She’is doing great, oh and by the way, TJ is upstairs detoxing from drugs we had no idea he was still taking’! But call I did. To Jimmy and to two other people I trusted, one of whom was a doctor who assured me, TJ will be safe to detox at home.
You see, I was afraid to take him to a hospital.
Let’s face it. The stigma of addiction is real. I let TJ detox at home that day because I was afraid if I brought him to the hospital there would be a record of this and people would find out. But that was a dangerous choice. The doctor’s consultation was brief and he only knew what I had told him. And trust me, I didn’t know much about addiction and mental health then. So, I hid a human being for 28 days from family members. Even his own brother didn’t know the truth until months later when had to explain to him why TJ wouldn’t be spending Christmas with us. Jim and I thought we had this under control, nobody needs to know, right? TJ will get the help he needs, come home, and everything will be back to normal.
How wrong we were! Naive and ignorant, substance abuse disorder is not something you fix. It doesn’t just go away overnight, or even in 28 days. It takes a lifetime. It is a lifetime for those who suffer. And it is a lifetime for family members. We did it the hard way.
Once you step on this ride, it is a roller coaster that doesn’t always end with a photo op—at least not the happy kind. There were approximately 105,007 total drug overdose deaths in 2023. And here in Bergen County, New Jersey, we alone have lost too many. It’s not just our youth who are affected, but the elderly, and many well intentioned people seeking chronic pain relief for whom use turns into tragic dependency.
Relief for TJ that October eventually came from professional, holistic treatment services involving a suite of therapies and family integration into what was not just “TJ’s problem” but what we viewed as a `family disease’. This is why Jimmy and I have dedicated ourselves to developing an integrative rehabilitation center right here in Bergen County. You need to heal as a family.
In partnership with Hackensack Meridian Health, we helped build The Retreat at Recovery at Ramapo Valley, a substance abuse and addiction treatment center where individuals can heal, with love, support and family. Doors opened in 2020 with an outpatient treatment program centered around person-specific care that places great value on enhancing the patient’s own motivation for recovery within the context of medical care, counseling and the compassionate support necessary for long-term recovery. In 2024, Ramapo treated 1,288 Outpatients and 990 Intensive Outpatients, with an 85% Patient Satisfaction score, and a near 80% program completion rate. That’s a lot of TJs experiencing recovery. And we’re not stopping.
Now in 2026, October Foundation is in Development for Phase II of The Retreat at Recovery at Ramapo Valley—an Intensive Inpatient treatment facility. The vision, in alignment with Hackensack Meridian Health, is to establish a Center of Excellence for adult addiction treatment and recovery.

What does it mean to truly love? I mean all of it. The joy and pain. The lessons it teaches about self-love, tough love, unconditional love. Every human being must have love to survive yet so many feel unloved. Consider those that suffer mental health issues, especially substance use disorder, they often feel like they’re not even worthy of love. This. Must. Change!

June 30th, 2019(?), TJ, my son told me he was addicted to opioids. Stunned I felt suddenly out of my body…there was me, there was TJ, and then another me overlooking the whole scene. I recall every detail of that day. I remember where he told me, I remember how he told, I remember why he told, and this visceral gut punch of my breath being sucked out of my body. I tried asking questions, but I just didn’t get it. What is he talking about?! What do you mean you are on medication and you are detoxing? It’s a prescription? And you’re addicted? And you’re detoxing, what!? How?

Feeling I might pass out, I kissed him on the forehead and said, I’ll be right back. I had to catch my breath, I needed air. Being outside my home felt safe. I sat on the bottom step of the patio, questions racing…What does this mean? What do I do? Who do I turn to, where do I go? Ok, slow down. First things first. I had to make sure TJ was safe and I had to call my husband, Jimmy, who was on a trip with our daughter. How do you start a conversation like that? `Hope you guys are having fun in Lake Placid, how’s Christina? She’is doing great, oh and by the way, TJ is upstairs detoxing from drugs we had no idea he was still taking’! But call I did. To Jimmy and to two other people I trusted, one of whom was a doctor who assured me, TJ will be safe to detox at home.

You see, I was afraid to take him to a hospital.

Let’s face it. The stigma of addiction is real. I let TJ detox at home that day because I was afraid if I brought him to the hospital there would be a record of this and people would find out. But that was a dangerous choice. The doctor’s consultation was brief and he only knew what I had told him. And trust me, I didn’t know much about addiction and mental health then. So, I hid a human being for 28 days from family members. Even his own brother didn’t know the truth until months later when had to explain to him why TJ wouldn’t be spending Christmas with us. Jim and I thought we had this under control, nobody needs to know, right? TJ will get the help he needs, come home, and everything will be back to normal.

How wrong we were! Naive and ignorant, substance abuse disorder is not something you fix. It doesn’t just go away overnight, or even in 28 days. It takes a lifetime. It is a lifetime for those who suffer. And it is a lifetime for family members. We did it the hard way.

Once you step on this ride, it is a roller coaster that doesn’t always end with a photo op—at least not the happy kind. There were approximately 105,007 total drug overdose deaths in 2023. And here in Bergen County, New Jersey, we alone have lost too many. It’s not just our youth who are affected, but the elderly, and many well intentioned people seeking chronic pain relief for whom use turns into tragic dependency.
Relief for TJ that October eventually came from professional, holistic treatment services involving a suite of therapies and family integration into what was not just “TJ’s problem” but what we viewed as a `family disease’. This is why Jimmy and I have dedicated ourselves to developing an integrative rehabilitation center right here in Bergen County. You need to heal as a family.
In partnership with Hackensack Meridian Health, we helped build The Retreat at Recovery at Ramapo Valley, a substance abuse and addiction treatment center where individuals can heal, with love, support and family. Doors opened in 2020 with an outpatient treatment program centered around person-specific care that places great value on enhancing the patient’s own motivation for recovery within the context of medical care, counseling and the compassionate support necessary for long-term recovery. In 2024, Ramapo treated 1,288 Outpatients and 990 Intensive Outpatients, with an 85% Patient Satisfaction score, and a near 80% program completion rate. That’s a lot of TJs experiencing recovery. And we’re not stopping.
Now in 2026, October Foundation is in Development for Phase II of The Retreat at Recovery at Ramapo Valley—an Intensive Inpatient treatment facility. The vision, in alignment with Hackensack Meridian Health, is to establish a Center of Excellence for adult addiction treatment and recovery.

Once you step on this ride, it is a roller coaster that doesn’t always end with a photo op—at least not the happy kind. There were approximately 105,007 total drug overdose deaths in 2023. And here in Bergen County, New Jersey, we alone have lost too many. It’s not just our youth who are affected, but the elderly, and many well intentioned people seeking chronic pain relief for whom use turns into tragic dependency.

Relief for TJ that October eventually came from professional, holistic treatment services involving a suite of therapies and family integration into what was not just “TJ’s problem” but what we viewed as a `family disease’. This is why Jimmy and I have dedicated ourselves to developing an integrative rehabilitation center right here in Bergen County. You need to heal as a family.

In partnership with Hackensack Meridian Health, we helped build The Retreat at Recovery at Ramapo Valley, a substance abuse and addiction treatment center where individuals can heal, with love, support and family. Doors opened in 2020 with an outpatient treatment program centered around person-specific care that places great value on enhancing the patient’s own motivation for recovery within the context of medical care, counseling and the compassionate support necessary for long-term recovery. In 2024, Ramapo treated 1,288 Outpatients and 990 Intensive Outpatients, with an 85% Patient Satisfaction score, and a near 80% program completion rate. That’s a lot of TJs experiencing recovery. And we’re not stopping.

Now in 2026, October Foundation is in Development for Phase II of The Retreat at Recovery at Ramapo Valley—an Intensive Inpatient treatment facility. The vision, in alignment with Hackensack Meridian Health, is to establish a Center of Excellence for adult addiction treatment and recovery.

The program will provide an innovative continuum of care supporting patients as they progress from detox and residential care, to outpatient treatment.

We hope you will join our movement to end this public health crisis. No one should deal with substance abuse disorder alone. We hear you and we see you, and together we can bring about the Fall of addiction. Working with the October Foundation we can destigmatize abuse, bring forth the most effective treatments, and support our friends, families, and neighbors as we turn a new leaf on addiction.

 

CARYL KOURGELIS

Co-founder October Foundation

OUR FOUNDERS

JIMMT KOURGELIS

Co-Founder

Cary Kourgelis

Co-Founder

TJ Kourgelis

Co-Founder

In 2017, an estimated 20.7 million people needed treatment for a substance use disorder. Only 4 million people received treatment, only 19% of those who needed it.

SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICE ADMINISTRATION