Walk The Road Media

WHAT IS A RECOVERY COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION?

THE POWER OF COMMUNITY

Nearly 22 million Americans suffer from addiction to alcohol and other drugs. Addiction is the number one cause of preventable deaths. The modern recovery movement seeks to change this by erasing shame and stigma, getting individuals and families the help they need, and building support to sustain recovery. Walk The Road Media. is committed to organizing, advocating, and bringing the power and promise of recovery to individuals and families across the state of Wisconsin, community by community.

RECOVERY COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS (RCOS) help bridge the gap between professional treatment and building healthy and successful lives in long-term recovery. They increase the visibility and influence of the recovery community and engage in one or more of four core strategies:

1. Educating the public about the reality of recovery
2. Advocating on behalf of the recovery community
3. Delivering peer recovery support services
4. Providing / Developing a Social Recovery Support Network

WHAT IS RECOVERY CAPITAL?

RECOVERY CAPITAL is “the breadth and depth of internal and external resources that can be drawn upon to initiate and sustain recovery from severe alcohol and other drug problems.” Recovery capital provides “the potential antidote for problems that have long plagued recovery efforts: insufficient motivation to change alcohol and drug use, emotional distress, pressure to use within intimate and social relationships, interpersonal conflict, and other situations that pose risks for relapse.”

THREE CORE PRINCIPLES OF RCOS

The Three core principles of RCOs include (1) Recovery Vision, (2) Authentic Voice, and (3) Accountability to the Recovery Community.

1. RECOVERY VISION: All RCOs share a Recovery Vision that focuses on the solution to the addiction problem, which is recovery. An RCO’s primary goal should be to enhance the supports and services available to people seeking and sustaining (or “living in”) long-term recovery from addiction. This includes embracing an “all pathways approach” to recovery. RCO’s work centers around influencing public and private policies at the local, state and federal levels aimed at helping individuals and family members get the help they need to recover. That includes access to effective treatment, as well as peer and other recovery support services. Strategies and tactics to remove discriminatory policies leveled against (or “faced by”) individuals and family members impacted by addiction are at the forefront of calls to action.
2. AUTHENTIC VOICE: All RCOs share an Authentic Voice which means that the interests of the community are represented by organizations that draw their leadership from members of the recovery community. In other words, most board members, staff, and volunteers are members of the local recovery community. This safeguards against competing interests and ensures that the voice of the RCO is valid.
3. ACCOUNTABLE TO THE RECOVERY COMMUNITY: All RCOs are Accountable to the Recovery Community and as such, are subject to being responsible and sensitive to its needs. To ensure that accountability, RCOs are independent, nonprofit 501-C (3) organizations with autonomy to members, and relationships and partnerships with external recovery allies – most often local councils, community prevention coalitions, and treatment or diversion programs in the health or court systems. This is all to say that RCOs are not influenced by clinical or legal entities but rather speak with the authentic voice of the recovery community.