September was Recovery Month. It was a momentous one, too, as it was the 25thanniversary of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) very first declaration of Recovery Month. This was also the month Better Life in Recovery (BLiR) decided to really roll out and begin trying to tackle stigma and ignorance head on.
Don’t get me wrong, BLiR has done several events already. BLiR did an outreach in Ash Grove for the youth and community warning of the dangers of addiction and wonders of recovery. There was also the Back to School Bash at New Life Church, which reached over 100 youth and adults. This year was different, this year was bigger.
In January, multiple organizations and individuals joined BLiR because they too shared the same vision. The vision was to deal hope and decimate stigma surrounding addictions and mental health issues through community service, education and awareness events that celebrate people in long-term recovery. That first meeting, several committees were formed and the ball started rolling.
We opted to have 4 subcommittees. Each subcommittee would have their own leader, who would ultimately report to the founder of director of BLiR. We decided on 3 events and an ongoing service arm:
1. Recovery Day at Hammon’s Field
2. Getting Dirty for Staying Clean 5K/10K Trail Run and Family Fun BBQ
3. Getting Dirty for Staying Clean Float and River Clean Up
4. Community Service events
After finishing the last recovery event, I have learned several things. For starters, dream big. We sold 300 tickets to the ball game. State Representative Eric Burlison showed up and threw out the first pitch of the game to support us. We had 125 people register to run the 5K/10K. We just finished the campout and had 75 people join us. We had a proclamation for recovery month presented by Senator Bob Dixon for the State of Missouri and another presented by Councilman Jerry Compton for the City of Springfield. For Springfield, it was the first time that the proclamation had been made!
We found some amazing sponsors who contributed goods that made the events successful. We received food, drinks, paper supplies and prizes for giveaways. We sold naming rights and various other things at the race, and we made some great partners in the community. Now we meet in two weeks,on Saturday October 11th at 1. The location as it stands is the Champion Center and I am super excited for it.
The next meeting we have there will be discussions about what we plan for next year. We will talk about what went right and how we can make it even better next year. We will also talk about the things that did not go as planned and that we were not prepared for so that we can learn from them. We will discuss what events we want to do next year and begin planning.
I am most excited about the prospect of writing the paperwork for BLiR to become a 501c3 and forming a board of directors. We have had a great foundation laid this year, and I would argue that all of our events were very successful. There were some learning experiences, but those are growing pains that are expected this early in the life of an organization.
Personally, I am exhausted. This is a run down of my last 30 days:
1. August 29th: Recovery Day at Hammon’s Field
2. August 30th: Race Walkthrough at Rutledge Wilson Farm Park and meeting on float trip
3. September 5th: Set up for the 5K
4. September 6th: The 1st Annual Getting Dirty for Staying Clean 5K/10K Trail Run and BBQ
5. September 12th: Taught a lesson on recovery at Glendale Christian Church for Celebrate Recovery
6. September 13th: Emceed and helped set up and break down for the 4th Annual Recovery Outreach in the Ozarks
7. September 14th: Shared my testimony at the Church at the Center’s Kids Festival and Benefit Concert
8. September 25th: Final Float Meeting
9. September 26th: Shared my testimony for the Say NO to Drugs Virginia state campaign
10. September 27th-28th: Set up, Camp out and Float Trip then break down
When I say breakdown, I don’t mean psychologically, but today I am feeling shot. I am tired, because on top of all of this I have a wife and 2 children, a full time job and a lot of people that I meet with and talk to who are struggling on a weekly basis outside of work. I have learned several lessons, but I think that I will share those later.
Today, I just want to say that I am grateful for a wife, friends, coworkers and recovery community that support what I do! I am blessed beyond belief and as well as we did this year, I can’t imagine what next year will look like!!
Last but not least, if getting involved with BLiR sounds interesting to you, send me your email address. I will make sure you are added to the email blasts that go out several times a month! If you have not hoped on the train yet, you might want to hop on board now before we leave the station for another amazing year!
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