Just Believe: A Canvas for Modern-Day Miracles

For most of us, miracles are few and far between. (At least the ones we’re consciously aware of, that is). But for Cindy Bellino, they’ve become a rhythm of her life. They’re the one thing she can depend on when she wakes up each morning.

“I enjoy seeing the miracles happen,” Bellino says with the gritty confidence of someone who has had her fair share of desolate stretches that were, at times, absent of the kind of hope she now gets to witness on a regular basis.

“Every day, I see miracles. I see the light come on. The spirit comes alive.”

Bellino is the CEO of Just Believe, a drug and alcohol recovery center with locations in Florida and Pennsylvania. And for the better part of a decade, she’s been helping people walk through addiction – a battle that she herself is all too familiar with.

From Palm Beach to Pennsylvania, she plays daily witness to hope, transformation, and life change. When most of her peers are thinking about settling down into lives of comfort and leisure – a retirement community is the furthest thing from Bellino’s mind. She’s in the middle of the greatest work of her life and doesn’t plan on forgoing the miracles anytime soon.

From Addict to Ally: A Shift Decades in the Making

In the early-1990s, Bellino found herself in the throes of addiction. But through a series of events, she understood the need to get sober. And for the past 27 years, she’s been in recovery.

While she’s spent nearly three decades of her life in recovery, she admits they haven’t all been consecutive. When she was in early recovery, it came very easy and, like many addicts, she thought she might not have a true “problem.” So after eight years of being clean, Bellino figured she could ease back into some of the crutches of her past life. However, she soon found out that she did, in fact, have a problem with addiction. And after a couple of years of relapsing, she once again committed to a life of recovery. The Just Believe CEO has now been sober for 15 years consecutively (and 25.5 of the past 27 years).

“Today, I couldn’t even imagine not living this way,” Bellino says with the kind of conviction that’s only possible when you’ve been given a second chance at life.

Though her recovery story has spanned nearly 30 years, it wasn’t until the age of 56 – after losing everything she owned in her entire life and being so broke that she “couldn’t even buy a loaf of bread” – that she realized her life calling.

While Bellino may have a history of addiction and, like any addict, has to actively work to fight the disease on a daily basis, she’s very clear on who she is. She’s not just a recovering addict; she’s an ally. And with three adult children, 10 grandchildren, and two great grandchildren, her “why” has never been more clear.

“What can I do to help families so that they don’t have to be separated? Our society today is a mess, and millions of children are growing up in messy situations,” Bellino laments. “These kids really don’t have a shot, unless [someone] steps in.”

Bellino is too self-aware to see her team as heroes or miracle workers, per se, but they certainly get to be daily firsthand witnesses to the miracles. And whether it’s in sunny Florida or the snow-dusted foothills of Pennsylvania, she’s rejuvenated and motivated by the thought of keeping families together.

Just Believe: A Safe Place for Healing

Just Believe is more than just a recovery center. It’s a place where people go to turn addiction into long-term, life-changing sobriety that has a generational impact on families and communities.

“The words ‘Just Believe’ mean a lot to me, because when people first come in and surrender to getting help, they have a hard time believing that it’s possible to live differently than what they’re used to,” says Bellino.

“One of the phrases we used to say to each other is, ‘Just believe that I believe. That’s all that you need to do right now.’” And it’s out of those hopeful words that Just Believe, the recovery center, was brought to life.

But it hasn’t always been what it is today, with beautiful campuses, clean facilities, and the kind, warm team that’s come to define Just Believe. In the early days, it was a much smaller operation.

Bellino admits that she never had any intentions of ever opening a rehab center, but thanks to a Pennsylvania judge who must have had some sort of premonition as to what her life calling would be, that’s exactly what happened.

The origins of Just Believe can be traced back to Bellino’s decision to open a safe house for women who had been discarded from their treatment programs when their insurance ran out. It was the first women’s sober house in the state of Pennsylvania. At the time, it was 17 girls living under one roof with Bellino and her paralyzed father in their Carbondale home. It was messy but rewarding work – rewarding enough that she was willing to spend two years fighting with the state to get approval to stay open.

“It was Judge Corbit who ruled in my favor for a drug and alcohol treatment center, which left me in shock,” Bellino admits. “Because all I was doing was opening a sober home. It was almost like she had bigger plans for myself than I was aware of. And so many years later, here I am.”

Less than a decade later, Bellino and her team of incredible therapists and decorated medical professionals, like Dr. Richard LoSardo, MD, Psychiatrist, have centers in Florida and Pennsylvania (with a brand new location opening in Union Dale, PA).

Just Believe offers treatment for individuals who are struggling with alcohol addiction and/or drug addiction. They offer a wide scope of programs ranging from detox and residential treatment to partial hospitalization programs (PHP). This includes a variety of flexible programs ranging from 10-day drug and alcohol detoxes to 45-day inpatient treatment to long-term rehab that can last as long as 90 days.

When clients come to Just Believe, they can expect to start or continue their recovery. And while every treatment plan is tailored to the individual, residents are going to experience group sessions, 1-on-1 sessions, and the abiliAccording to Bellino, one of the best parts about the program is the camaraderie that residents establish. She says they become like a family and, in many cases, closer than their actual families.

From the mental and emotional side of things, residents learn more about themselves and their capabilities in life. They learn how to stop beating themselves up. They also learn how to give up guilt and shame. Residents discover pretty quickly that they’re not the same person they were when they were on drugs and alcohol.

There’s also a very practical side of treatment at Just Believe. On the back end of their recovery, they learn how to write up a resume and manage a checking account. There are also parenting classes to equip them with the necessary skills to be there for their children. Even legal matters are addressed.

The “normal” path into recovery starts with 10 days of detox. Once the substances are safely and medically cleared from the body, residents go into residential treatment (typically a four-week program) where they begin to unfold the psychological impacts of addictions. Once they’ve completed residential treatment, they’re moved to a PHP program for 30 to 90 days, followed by IOP (intensive outpatient) therapy once or twice per week.

Recovery is For Everyone

While Just Believe’s detox and treatment plans are covered by most insurances, Bellino has never been motivated by the money. It’s not a numbers game for her and her team. They’ll never throw people out if their insurance lapses, and they even go so far as to give out 20 full scholarships as part of their Gift of Life Program every November and December for people who don’t have the financial means to pay for the program – something that’s totally unheard of in this industry.

Everything is included with the Just Believe Scholarship Program. It’s not a watered-down or “lite” version. It includes everything from detox to residential to 45 days of PHP. It doesn’t matter that it’s free – it’s the real thing.

“I didn’t get into this based on dollars and cents. I did it for an entirely different reason,” says Bellino. “I’ll never be the richest treatment center. I just like to pay my bills. When I can walk into a grocery store and buy whatever I need or want to eat without going broke, that’s rich.”

Bellino believes every rehab center in the industry should be giving out scholarships. She points out that even in the early years when they were barely breaking even, financial aid was a priority.

“My people said we can’t do this. And I said we can do it, and we are going to do it. We have empty beds, so we might as well fill them up and help people. That’s what we’re supposed to be doing,” she passionately recalls.

While she quietly wonders why every single treatment center can’t give out 15 or 20 scholarships per year, she’s also not one to worry about what others are doing. Her sole mission is to help the people she’s entrusted with. And a big part of that role is addressing the root of addiction so that moms and dads, brothers and sisters, and sons and daughters can go on to live meaningful and productive lives.

The Root of Addiction (and the Hope of a Second Chance)

When Dr. LoSardo came to Just Believe in 2012, he already had a successful practice and impressive resume. His educational background included esteemed institutions like NYU Medical School, Cornell, and Brown. Earlier in his career, he also completed a pediatric residency at New York Hospital-Cornell. And while he never would have seen himself working at a drug and alcohol treatment center as a lead psychiatrist, he (like Bellino) believes he’s found his calling.

It’s Dr. LoSardo’s background and upbringing that make him so sympathetic to the cause of helping people who are battling the demons of addiction. Because despite his heralded resume, he understands the people he works with. He was raised in the lower-middle-class part of Queens with very little money. His dad was a mailman and passed away from lung cancer when Dr. LoSardo was just 15. He’s had to work hard for everything he has, yet has no trouble remembering what it was like to struggle.

“Coming from a blue-collar background, it really helps me,” he says. “Patients identify with the fact that I’m down to earth.”

At a time in his career when he could be looking for an opportunity to wind down and “ride out” his career with easy paychecks, Dr. LoSardo is as passionate as he’s ever been – going so far as to say he never wants to retire.

“I see myself as a father and a husband – someone who is dedicated to my family. But I also have a responsibility to treat everyone as best as possible, with respect,” he says. “I don’t jump to conclusions based on how someone is dressed, because that’s how I used to dress at one point. I do my best to treat them as the human beings that they are. Being a doctor is a big part of my identity, and treating addictions is a passion of mine.”

When it comes to treating addictions, Just Believe uses a variety of modalities that include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and group therapy (based on 12-step programs). Dr. LoSardo believes it’s his role to get to the root of addiction. While most treatment centers detox a patient and then send them out into the world, he knows that you have to get down to the underlying mental health issues. And that’s why Just Believe uses a bio-pscyho-social treatment framework.

“You have to get to the heart of any mental health issues that exist. If you don’t get to the bottom of something like bipolar disorder, MPD, or anxiety disorders, you do the patient a disservice,” says Dr. LoSardo. “It’s not just about getting them off substances.”

Introducing Just Believe at Mountains Edge

With one location already established in Jensen Beach, Florida and another in Bellino’s hometown of Carbondale, Pennsylvania, Just Believe is in the process of launching its third location in northeast Pennsylvania.

Just Believe at Mountains Edge opened on November 1, 2021. This gorgeous, serene setting provides a spacious yet homey atmosphere for those entering recovery. In addition to PHP treatment, the center will offer a variety of activities on the 18-acre campus and 100-plus adjoining acres that they’ve been given the rights to use. Activities include horseback riding and, potentially, skiing and snowboarding.

Just Believe at Mountains Edge is also proud to have a state-approved ETHOS Program, which intertwines things like art, music, writing, and drama into the therapy process.

As Dr. LoSardo explains, “Addicts don’t know what it’s like to have fun without getting high. So in addition to all of the psychotherapy modalities, we have to show them that they can enjoy their lives without being on drugs.”

A Life of Recovery

There are 45 million people directly impacted by addiction. This includes 22 million people with active substance abuse disorder and 23 million people who are in addictive recovery. We can’t put our heads in the sand anymore. Society spends so much money on so many other things. It’s time that we emphasize the need for recovery. And Just Believe, directed by CEO Cindy Bellino and psychiatrist Dr. Richard LoSardo, is leading the way.

“There is so much beauty in the world. People just aren’t used to looking for it,” Bellino says. “They’re too busy. They miss the miracles. Everyone is given the right to see it all on a daily basis. But for some people, they’re just too busy or too much into their disease.”

As for Bellino, she’ll never stop looking for beauty. And it’s her life’s mission to help others experience their own miracles.