In this 32-minute podcast, Kristin Lupfer, project director of the SAMHSA SOAR Technical Assistance Center, discusses the value of financial wellness in recovery and well-being. SOAR stands for Supplemental Security Income/Social Security Disability Insurance, Outreach, Access, and Recovery. SOAR is a national program designed to increase access to the disability income benefit programs administered by the Social Security Administration for eligible adults who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness and have a serious mental illness, medical impairment, and/or a co-occurring substance use disorder. SOAR-trained case managers have helped over 50,000 individuals become approved for disability benefits. This podcast is part of a 10-episode series exploring how each dimension of the Eight Dimensions of Wellness enhances recovery. 

Financial insecurity makes it harder to access the basic resources and services we need to survive, and poor financial wellness makes it especially difficult for people with serious mental illness to meet their needs and obtain treatment. SOAR seeks to make housing, finances, food, and health care more accessible for individuals. During this podcast, two individuals from Kansas City, Missouri, who have SOAR-certified case manager discuss how having little or no financial income affected their wellness. The pair also discusses how their SOAR case manager helped them access the resources they needed to recover. As the interviewees attained greater financial stability and employment, they experienced the ways that improved financial wellness can also positively influence other areas of their lives, including emotional and occupational wellness. Because all of the dimensions of wellness are deeply interconnected, accessing financial resources is a vital step in establishing and sustaining recovery and achieving overall well-being. 

To learn more about financial wellness, please see our financial wellness fact sheet. 

Listen to the other episodes in this series: 

This resource was first shared in 2018. 

(Podcast, Soundcloud)