Durham Celebrates National Recovery Month
The Criminal Justice Resource Center (CJRC) hosted its 3rd annual recovery celebration on September 19. The event celebrated National Recovery Month, a national observance held in September designed to awareness of mental health and substance use disorders. Roughly 400 people attended to share success stories, show support and promote the positive benefits of recovery. “Visible, Vocal, Valuable” was this year’s theme to reinforce the message that people can and do recover and to encourage the greater community to advocate for better services for those in need. “People living with mental health and substance abuse disorders can live productive and fulfilling lives," said Bob Thomas, the event’s organizer. Thomas received a national award from SAMHSA on September 10 in Washington, D.C. on behalf of CJRC for last year’s recovery celebration. He was one of only three winners from 1,000 applicants. National Recovery Month also aims to reduce the stigma of mental health and substance abuse disorders by celebrating the gains made by those in recovery. Many go to support groups like Narcotics Anonymous (NA) in their lifelong journeys to recovery. However, anonymity is a problem for advocates. The growing number of people willing to step forward to share their own recovery journey each year is encouraging and speaks to the hard work of organizers and volunteers. Their dedication to better the lives of those in need is a noble campaign, worthy of the recognition it received.
