Kicking off Recovery Month!

Yo yo, blogosphere.

September is recovery month, so here's what your folks at Project Hope/Proyecto Esperanza and Catholic Charities at large will be doin'!

PARTAY, RI Recovery style.

There are games afoot (in a good way of course). My friend Brendan always accuses me of misusing that word (afoot), just as amigo Ben dislikes how I refer to future events using the word "circa".

Anyhoo, check out the cool events going this month. The first one starts tomorrow at the West Warwick Senior Center, circa 11am.

The schedule below was stolen from Closing the Treatment Gap RI's blog (CATG).

Before we get there, though, do you know what treatment gap is? Well, it's the alarmingly large difference between the number of people struggling with drugs or alcohol and the number of people who actually access the treatment they both need and deserve. According to CATG, only 12% of the 100,000 people struggling with addiction in RI receive treatment. AHHH!

Let's do something about it. Here's a start:

• September 1st - Recovery Month Kickoff - Quilt Event- 11:00 AM - West Warwick Senior Community Center (Washington St.)

• September 11th - 8th Annual Rhode Island Rally for Recovery - 2:00 PM - 7:00 PM. Roger Williams Memorial National Park - North Main Street (Corner of Canal Street & Park Row) - Providence.

• September 14th - F.I.R.E. Recovery Month Event at Public Square Days - 11:30 AM - Burnside Park, Kennedy Plaza, Providence

• September 15th - RICAODD Annual Dinner - 6:00 PM

• September 16th - ARI Patient Appreciation Celebration

• September 17th - CTR Recovery Month Celebration - 9:00 AM

• September 24th - Recovery Month Awareness Day at Providence Center School

• September 25th - Amos House Friendship Cafe Recovery Month Celebration with Recovery All Stars - 6:00 PM - 11:00 PM.

Links to click, because you should. Yup, that was a normative statement.

Rally 4 Recovery Events in RI - flyers and such! POST 'EM EVERYWHERE!

Rhode Island Rally 4 Recovery Website - It's perty!

Proyecto in the Projo!

From Mary Smith/Serve Rhode Island's recent column in the Sunday paper:

The Diocese of Providence

Volunteers are needed to train as recovery coaches for individuals who are struggling with drug and alcohol addiction.

Coaches spend time each week supporting persons on the difficult road to recovery. Training dates are: Wednesday, Sept. 1 and 8 from 5-8 p.m.

Contact: Kim Caron, (401) 728-0515 or e-mail kcaron@ dioceseofprovidence.org

Read the full article!


Yup, that's right folks.



St. Matthias Recovery Coaching is on the up and up, so we're recruiting new volunteers to meet the growing demand for coaches.

Give me a ring a ling for more info, or to sign up for training.

Look at these 'lil images of our recruitment flyer. Me thinks you'll find the details helpful!

Speaking of Dreaming...

11:1

There's a "chapter" entitled Hebrews in this book called The Bible. Some anonymous guy wrote it to lift the spirits of persecuted Jewish Christians back in the 'ole J.C. hayday. Mr. Anonymous sure scratched down some insightful musings re: life in the empire.

This one for example:

Faith is the realization of things hoped for and evidence of things not seen.

- Hebrews 11:1

Thanks Monsieur Anony. I'm not 2000 years old, but I find this very helpful. Your timeless wisdom gives me faith in the human race, and hope to hang onto the reigns as we trample through the rockiest life paths.

Dreaming

Over the past 4 months, I've been traveling to Westerly two days a week to reach out to flood victims, administering thousands of dollars in Catholic Charities donations. The relief money comes from the hearts and hearths of fellow Rhode Islanders who deeply empathize with their compatriots.



After spending time down there, I can easily say I have never been more touched by the warmth and connectivity of a community. The tightly knit family that populates Westerly perpetually - incessantly - continually - AMAZES me. People in this town have each others' backs. I'm constantly fighting back little bursts of water at the corners of my eyes. This town loves each other. And - as the sticker slapped on the bathroom sink at my office down there reads - "Love Conquers All" - even flood ravaged homes and piles of water logged memories.



One of my clients, a single mother (I'll call her Abbey) and mother of three, was struggling far before the waters entered her house. Several close friends and relatives that live in Westerly referred her over, because the community cares and knows she needs the aid.



Even though Abbey's on a fixed income and barely keeping the lights on, she makes sure her children have a normal childhood - at least a childhood where you're concerned about how to obtain ice cream...or building forts in the woods...NOT where you're going to find dinner.



Her son's (I'll call him Victor) BMX bike currently sports a rusted out frame and parts from big two-wheelers that make the thing virtually un-rideable. Since a kid's bike has to be up to snuff to properly ride in the Westerly skate park, Victor is currently unable to cruise around during the morning rides with his friends.



When Victor and Abbey came in to meet me, I could tell the 12-year old was a little embarrassed his mom was asking for help. I also observed he was antsy, and I heard him express under his breath a desire to get home and put on new pedals.



Since I'm a little cycle-crazy, my ears perked and I immediately starting questioning him. I soon discovered all the details above about his bike's state of disrepair. In an divinely inspired moment of creativity, I recalled that my friend Warren works at the Red Shed bike shop in Olneyville, empowering the neighborhood kids to be young bike mechanics. It's a great program sponsored by the Woonasquatucket Watershed Council. The youth can access tools and parts for their bikes simply by volunteering. I contacted Warren...and then my friend Emerson donated a frame. The end of this long story is that Victor, in just under two weeks, will be riding a brand new bike at the Westerly skate park.

Photo cred: http://www.wrwc.org/gwyRedShed.php

You should check out the website for the RED SHED, up there.

Thanks to the generosity of Catholics across the state, Abbey no longer hesitates to flip the light switch...fearing that her electricity service has at last been terminated. And thanks to the tight knit community that exists in Westerly and Rhode Island at large, Victor's summer...and his childhood...are a happy one.



Here's a poem I found in the Rhode Island KIDS COUNT Factbook about living the happy life. These few words remind me to be a kid...ALWAYS...and to NEVER stop dreaming.

From: I'll Be You and You Be Me

by Ruth Krauss Harper

I love the sun

I love a house

I love a river

and a hill where I watch

and a song I heard

and a dream I made