Once a bartender battling addiction, Cameron Patey now works on the other side of recovery, helping men facing struggles he knows all too well.
At CARITAS’ newly renovated campus in Richmond’s Southside, Patey is guiding participants of The Healing Place, a peer-driven, long-term residential recovery program. But when he first walked through the doors in 2025, he didn’t know what to expect — or if he was ready to take that first step towards recovery.
“I had spent a long time in restaurants, hospitality, bartending, and had never undergone any treatment. Never thought about recovery or anything like that,” the 29-year-old said.
At THP, Patey said, he found structure in the program focused on wellness, employment and stability. The center of the program, known as “phase,” can take several months to complete and is rooted in the 12-step model developed by Alcoholics Anonymous…