Highland Rivers celebrates 2020 Year of Recovery
MARCH - APRIL 2020 | CHEROKEE LIFE 7
If you’ve been a regular reader of my columns over the past three years, you’ve
likely noticed I frequently write about recovery. Of course recovery has been a focus
of columns I’ve written in recognition of National Mental Health Awareness Month in
May and National Recovery Month in September. But I’ve also written about recovery
in the context of columns about Highland Rivers programs and services.
This is because Highland Rivers takes a very broad perspective on
recovery. While many people understand recovery in the context of
substance use and addiction, recovery also applies to individuals living
with mental illness, and even with disabilities.
The fact is, recovery is the goal of everything Highland Rivers does.
And with that perspective, programs such as veterans’ PTSD groups,
supportive housing, supported employment, peer groups, vocational
training and crisis stabilization, among others, are as much a part of
recovery as substance use services such as Women’s Outreach and
addictive disease support services.
To help demonstrate this broad perspective on recovery, Highland
Rivers Health will be celebrating 2020 as The Year of Recovery. While
this may sound like a national observance, it is not. Rather, Highland
Rivers’ commitment to recovery is so strong that our internal Recovery-focused
Transformation team has initiated this year-long celebration just for our agency – and,
more important, for the individuals who have chosen Highland Rivers as their partner
on their personal recovery journey.
Throughout the year, visitors to our clinics will notice signage with our 2020
Year of Recovery logo, and have the opportunity to learn about and share their own
perspectives on recovery. You may also notice staff wearing jeans some days – which
will be part of a year-long fundraiser for the Highland Rivers Foundation (staff will pay
$1 to wear jeans and receive a sticker that says “Recovery…it’s in our jeans”).
We will not only focus on national health observances, but also on different aspects
of recovery that are meaningful. After spending the month of January to kick-off the
celebration, our Year of Recovery calendar will have a theme each month:
March: National Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month;
Social Work Month
2020 season on May 14, 2019. Contact the Box Office for more information or to join our
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April: Alcohol Awareness Month; Stress Awareness Month
May: Mental Health Awareness Month; National Nurses Week, May 6-12
June: PTSD Awareness Month, including PTSD Awareness Day, June 27
July: Minority Mental Health Awareness Month
August: Back-to-school, focus on child and adolescent mental health
September: National Recovery Month; World Suicide Prevention Day,
September 10; National Addictions Professionals Day, September 20
October: National Disability Employment Awareness Month; Red
Ribbon Week, October 23-31
November: National Family Caregivers Month, and focus on seasonal
affective disorder
December: 2020 Year of Recovery in review
As a reminder of this broad perspective, the Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration defines recovery as a process of
change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live
a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential – a definition
that does not speak to any specific type of illness or condition.
Not only is this process driven by the individual seeking recovery, but as the Georgia
Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities notes, recovery is
nurtured by hope, empowerment, choices and opportunities.
Ultimately, recovery means being able to live a healthy, self-directed life in which
one’s illness – whether mental illness, a substance use disorder, or a disability – does
not interfere with day-to-day living in the community as independently as possible.
As always, I want to wish everyone reading this a happy and healthy News Year.
Highland Rivers looks forward to celebrating recovery throughout 2020. We hope
you will continue to support recovery in your community, and most important, the
individuals in every community who are living their recovery every day.
Melanie Dallas is a licensed professional counselor and CEO of Highland Rivers Health,
which provides treatment and recovery services for mental illness, substance use, and
intellectual and developmental disabilities in a 12-county region that includes Cherokee.
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