Dealing Hope and Decimating Stigma through Recovery Events

Better Life in Recovery (BLiR) is off to an amazing year so far. Things are really starting to come together. I have been in discussions with the web developer, who is creating the new BLiR website that will hopefully go live in April. We are trying to create a unique yet easy to navigate website and it is starting to come together.

We have been working on the mission statement and here is where we are currently at with it: To deal hope and decimate stigma surrounding recovery that men, women and children face every day through education and awareness events that celebrate people in long-term recovery.

This brings me up to what I am most excited about this year, the events that will be occurring here in southwest Missouri later in the year. We had our first meeting in January and our second meeting in February. Our goal is to reduce stigma by hosting major events in the community combining treatment providers and recovery groups which will help us build a united front to support long term recovery.

Meetings have been well attended, with representatives from: Celebrate Recovery, Victory Circle, Living Free, AA, NA, Alternative Opportunities Treatment Services, Higher Ground, Hand Extended Outreach, Jericho Commission, Ozark Counseling Center, Glendale Christian Church, Ridgecrest Baptist Church, Greene County DWI Court and Drug Court Programs, the Regional Partnership Grant, the Recovery Coalition of the Ozarks, Better Life in Recovery, Missouri Recovery Network, Missouri State University, Evangel University, as well as an attorney and several local business owners.

Our unity will allow us to have larger events that will make it easier for the community to see that those with a mental and/or substance use disorder live healthy and rewarding lives while rejoining and giving back to the communities they live in. Together we will spread the message that prevention works, treatment is effective, and people can and do recover. In turn this will promote the message that recovery in all its forms is possible, and encourage citizens to take action to help expand and improve the availability of effective prevention, treatment, and recovery services for those in need.

Here is what happened at our last meeting:

We began with introductions of the group. Then the primary purpose of the events we are doing was discussed. That purpose is to celebrate people who are in recovery, educate the community better on all the great things that people in recovery are able to achieve and reduce stigma for those who are in recovery. We are proud to be a part of the recovery movement and plan on making National Recovery Month this September a month of celebration in southwest Missouri.

Then we did updates on where each of our committees is at:

1.       Recovery Day at Hammonds Field - The date isAugust 29^th. We will have a parade around the field; the scoreboard will have information about recovery month and advertise for the 5K/10K while we are walking around the field. We have already had a $500 donation to purchase tickets for kids whose parents cannot afford to buy tickets for them. Tickets will be $10 and we should have vouchers that we can give to people who purchase tickets available within the next 2 weeks.

2.       1^st Annual “Getting Dirty for Staying Clean” Run– It was decided that the Run and BBQ will be combined so that they are done on the same day and location, but they will have separate committees. The date we have set tentatively isSeptember 6^th. Location is yet to be determined. Several places have been contacted and we are waiting to hear who has the best deal before we decide which one to use.  We may have an event sponsor, but it will have to be voted on by the coalition during their next meeting the beginning of April. We may also have several other possible sponsors for the event: one may sponsor the start/finish line and the other may sponsor t-shirts.

3.       Recovery Day in the Park BBQ - – See above for date and location. We have a volunteer who will do the cooking. We are starting to reach out to multiple stores in the area for donations of goods and services. Several bands are being contacted to see if they would volunteer to play at the event.

4.       Multidisciplinary Forum at Missouri State – This project has several professors at Missouri State who are currently working on it. Date is yet to be determined.   

5.       “Keeping it Clean” Float and Fun Day – The date is tentatively set for September 29^th and Hooten Town is the tentative location.  We may have a sponsor for the cost of the campsite rental for the day. Camping will be free if we get the sponsor and the canoes will be $20 each.  We will also need to have sponsors for random giveaways, raffles, event prizes, as well as food for breakfast and lunch. Bands are being contacted for this event as are speakers. We will have 3 speakers the night before the float sharing their recovery: one from NA, one from AA and one from a faith-based organization.

We had a discussion regarding the direction and name for all of the recovery events we are planning. We talked about the possibility of me joining the Recovery Coalition of the Ozarks as an individual and then being their events chair and doing all of this under the direction of the coalition. We also discussed doing it under the name Better Life in Recovery (BLiR), which is an existing organization that focuses on sharing recovery and hope. BLiR will then have the opportunity to join the Recovery Coalition of the Ozarks as a member. The committee moved to use the organization Better Life in Recovery for the events and begin partnering with other organizations in our communities so that this event can be successful.

Chairs were selected for all of the subcommittees. The chair will:

·         Give progress reports at monthly meetings

·         Establish goals and develop a plan of action to insure successful implementation of their event

·         Assign duties for their subcommittee members

·         Follow up with each subcommittee member and insure they are doing their part within the subcommittee

·         Pick up any slack that could slow down the subcommittee’s progress in making their event successful

Our next meeting is set for March 22^nd at 1. If this is something that you are interested in becoming a part of, please let me know so that I can add you to the mailing lists I send out to remind people about the date, time and location of the meeting in March.

Help Me Decimate Stigma and Share Hope

Stigma is a two-edged sword for those who struggle with mental health and substance abuse issues, even after they have found recovery. Not only is there the judgment directed at those who are in recovery, but the shame that comes from hiding struggles out of fear of what other people will think and say. Our goal is to help reduce that stigma and educate communities on the fact that addiction treatment and mental health services can enable those with a mental and/or substance use disorder to live a healthy and rewarding life.

September is National Recovery Month. National Recovery Month highlights individuals who have reclaimed their lives and are living happy and healthy lives in long-term recovery and also honors the prevention, treatment, and recovery service providers who make recovery possible. Together, we can spread the hope of recovery and reduce the stigma in our community. It will take making the community more aware of those in recovery and the successes they are celebrating. We cannot do this unless we cross lines by having multiple agencies and recovery organizations work together so that our voice is so loud it cannot be ignored.

Community awareness will take a joint effort of passionate organizations and individuals working together to hold events and celebrations. The vision is to have multiple events in 2014 where individuals in recovery volunteer and give back in their community, events where they simply go out and have fun as well as events that raise public awareness and educate the community so they are more informed and less judgmental. We will be forming committees to help plan:

·         5K Recovery Run/Walk 10K Run to be held in September

·         2^nd Annual Recover the River float trip on the James River to pick up trash on the banks in September

·         2^nd Annual Recovery in the Park BBQ and Fun Day for those who are in recovery or work with people in recovery, thanking them for their hard work in September 

·         A multidisciplinary forum at Missouri State to educate students as well as individuals in our community better on substance abuse, mental illnesses and recovery for recovery month

·         Bimonthly Community Service Events giving back to the communities we live in

This past Saturday was the first meeting. I introduced my vision for ways to reduce stigma and celebrate recovery for the year 2014. We discussed Recovery Day at Hammonds Field. It will be on Friday, the 29th of August at the last Cardinal's home game and be a kick off for Recovery Month in September. I am super excited about this event and will need all the help I can get selling tickets. The more tickets we sell the better. It is for people in recovery, their families and friends, people who work with those who struggle with a mental and/or substance use disorder and those who believe in reducing the stigma they face. The tickets will be available for $10 and people can make tax deductible contributions to sponsor families and individuals that might not otherwise be able to come due to finances. Whoever sells the most tickets can either throw out the first pitch or nominate someone to throw the first pitch.

An enthusiastic team formed immediately and stayed after the meeting to discuss the 5K/10K event. This event will require the most planning. The name and date for the run are currently being discussed and the current team members have already been exchanging thoughts and ideas. We will have to wait until the next meeting to hear more about how that event planning is going. We should have a date in the next meeting but it was looking like the first Saturday in September.  

Several other committees are also in the formation stage:

There is a plan for a multidisciplinary forum to be held at Missouri State during National Recovery Month. We have had several professors that have agreed to take the lead on that event. 

The 2nd annual Recovery in the Park BBQ this year and the committee for that event also was started. 

The 2nd annual Recover the River Float and Clean Day committee began formation. There is also a member of the Watershed Committee of the Ozarks involved with promoting the event.

 The community service projects were discussed but will need further discussion. Our hope is to have a large scale community service project that will be done every other month throughout the year helping The Kitchen, Victory Mission, Habitat for Humanity, the Salvation Army, local schools, OACAC, Convoy of Hope, the Springfield Park and Springfield Greenways to name a few of those discussed. 

We had representatives there from multiple agencies and organizations, including Celebrate Recovery, Living Free, several recovery organizations that prefer to remain anonymous, Alternative Opportunities Treatment Services, Higher Ground, Hand Extended Outreach, Jericho Commission, Ozark Counseling Center, Glendale Christian Church, Ridgecrest Baptist Church, James River Assembly, North Point, DWI Court, Drug Court, the RPG Grant, Better Life in Recovery, Missouri Recovery Network, Missouri State University, Evangel University, an attorney, and several local business owners.

I was also invited to share the presentation with the Recovery Coalition of the Ozarks on February 3^rd, which I am super excited to do. I am so ready to start sharing hope and destroying stigma here in Southwest Missouri. I know that other areas are doing it well and I cannot wait until we are getting more positive publicity than negative publicity from the press when it comes to stories on people who struggle with a mental and/or substance use disorder.

We need sponsors, donations, volunteers and other miscellaneous help. Our next meeting is on Saturday, February 22^nd from 1-3. If you are interested in filling a need or helping organize or know of someone who is please get a hold of me. If you need me to come and talk about this with your group or organization locally let me know and I am there. Together we can make 2014 a year that encourages and gives hope to those who struggle with mental and/or substance use disorder and begin decimating the stigma they face on a daily basis!