Fear and Loathing in Pleasant Hill

I went to a public hearing in Pleasant Hill on Tuesday, Sept. 29th regarding the opening of a 20-person residential adult non-medical alcoholism and/or drug abuse recovery or treatment facility that will by licensed by the State of California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs.

This facility was formerly a convent built for 20 persons and is located on Pleasant Hill Road in Pleasant Hill. The man who now owns, and would like to operate this building as a treatment center for women, is Dr. Michael Jordan, the Chief of Obstetrics at Kaiser in Walnut Creek.

What I heard at this meeting, which lasted almost 4 hours, tells me discrimination and stigma concerning addicts is still alive and well. Approximately 70 people attended. Three people spoke up with positive comments regarding the proposed facility. The rest of the audience was there to try and block it from opening. Many neighbors are concerned about the noise level with that many women living in one residence. At one point during Dr. Jordan’s rebuttal to those particular comments, he stated that putting in more vegetation as a sound barrier would create an extra major expense when there are already fences and vegetation in place. After the Dr. said that someone in the audience replied audibly, “Too bad!” Another neighborhood resident shared his concern about hypodermic needles being thrown in his back yard.

It was quite obvious all this is due to fear and ignorance surrounding people in recovery.

Lisa P. White from the Contra Costa Times reported, “Neighbors of the former convent at 2059 Pleasant Hill Road worry that the facility would draw criminal activity, depress property values and increase traffic and noise”.

We as a recovering community, I believe, have an obligation to help educate these individuals and show them that they have nothing to fear from us. Our community needs now, more than ever, safe and secure places for women to go to better their lives and not continue to live in the hell drug and alcohol addiction bring.

Please join us at the next public hearing for St. Theresa's Retreat on Tuesday, October 13th at 7:30pm. The location is 100 Gregory Lane Pleasant Hill, CA 94523. Your presence alone could have a distinct positive impact for Dr. Michael Jordan’s proposal.

Did You Know...?

Prevention and treatment works, saves lives, and costs less:

Millions of people and their families are in recovery from addiction and leading productive lives. 7 dollars is saved in medical and social costs for every dollar invested in treatment.

For every dollar spent on alcohol and drug Prevention, communities can save $4 to $5 in future costs for treatment and counseling.

What Did You Do Today For Your Recovery?

More Recovery Walk Pictures

Go here to see more 2009 Recovery Walk pictures courtesy of the Tolen Family. All the pictures can be seen from the events page of support4recovery.org.

Awesome Meeting!

Over 30 people showed up for the Recovery Walk debriefing meeting at Fuddruckers in Concord! Not only was our meeting productive, the food was great, and the fellowship even better!

We're having another meeting because we ran out of time to cover everything in the first one.

The next volunteer meeting will be at:
6:00 - 7:00pm
Friday, October 16, 2009
Center for Recovery
2730 Grant Street, Concord
Classroom B

Everyone is welcome! Go to the events page of support4recovery.org to see all of our meeting dates.

If anyone would like to share any pictures from last night's meeting, please let me know. Thanks, Judy

Laurel Barth Designs

Not only is she a talented designer, she's bakes the most awesome sweets!

Laurel is a designer who happens to be an incredible baker. Do you know what a chapflap is? If you own a motorcycle this might be something you'd like to have. Check out www.chapflap.com for all the info.

She has also satisfied our sweet tooth more than once with mouth watering cookies, muffins, cakes. So, next time you need a cake for your party or some cookies to cheer someone up...or heck, just spoil yourself, you deserve it, call or email Laurel!

...and, they just keep coming...

An anonymous company donated 33 orange safety vests along with 4 traffic cones! Thanks to our Support 4 Recovery Advisory Council member Laurel B. for getting these donations!!

Democracy Restoration Act

This info came from Senator Dianne Feinstein's office in July. It was also distributed from various news agencies.

"House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution Chairman Russ Feingold (D-WI) introduced bills in both chambers of Congress today that will restore voting rights to millions of American citizens with past felony convictions. An estimated 5.3 million citizens cannot vote as a result of felony convictions, and nearly 4 million of those individuals are living and working in their communities. The Democracy Restoration Act of 2009 is a welcome measure that will establish a uniform standard restoring voting rights in federal elections to millions of Americans who are not incarcerated, but continue to be denied their ability to fully participate in civic life."

RECOVERY WALK 2009: Bringing together harmony, laughter, and all around good times...

Contra Costa County Supervisor Gayle Uilkema opened our 5th annual Recovery Walk, as she has in the past, with a very inspiring and encouraging message. She let people know that the stigma of addiction can be erased.

It was a great beginning to a fun filled day. When asked what this event meant to him, Dave R. wrote, "To me this means together we can achieve almost anything, as long as we stay in the solution, that I would not have achieved on my own. Bringing together harmony, laughter and all around good times".

The Support 4 Recovery Board of Directors and Advisory Council greatly appreciate what all the dedicated volunteers did. The Tolen family put together the best Kids Corner this event has ever had. Fresh Start Alumni Association ran a very organized registration. The Diablo Valley Ranch Alumni Association did an incredible job at serving food to over 400 people. I don't think this blog is big enough to list all the committed people who helped make this such a wonderful day. This event received more donations then any of the past Recovery Walks...INCREDIBLE!

Judge Joni Hiramoto gave a very supportive speech to the crowd. One of the things she said was, "If you fall down seven times, get up eight". So many recovering addicts and alcoholics have done just that.

Senator Mark DeSaulnier addressed the many people gathered with inspiring words. He is another great supporter of the community, especially to men and women who are getting out of prison and are trying to re-enter into society. These people greatly need our assistance and Senator DeSaulnier has always championed this cause.

Gayle H., who is on the S4R Advisory Council and ran the voter registration booth along with Maria R. mentioned, "A number of people were under the impression that they could never vote again in their lifetimes because they had past felonies on their records...Maria and I showed them the info booklet that says they CAN vote if they are on probation or off parole". Community awareness is so important. We can do great things in numbers!

One of the pictures you see here is of the three people, Rick, Harold, and Fatima, who started the very first Contra Costa County Recovery Walk five years ago.

At this year's event, there was even a lady from Casa Ujima who went into labor! She had a recovery baby!

Please share with us what this day meant to you if you were there.

To see some of the many people who made this happen check out www.support4recovery.org or go to this link.

Watch this blog for details regarding our next event. If you'd like to do some fun service, come and join us.

Proclamation

This is the proclamation given to the Recovery Community from the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors. It will go up on the wall as soon as we get our first building!

Recovery Month

Supervisor Gayle B. Uilkema presented the recovery community, and
Support for Recovery was there a accept, a framed document proclaiming the month of September 2009 as National Alcohol and Drug Recovery Month in Contra Costa County at the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, September 15th. Many people from the recovery community came to support the event. Supervisor Uilkema has supported the Recovery Walk for the past 4 years!

Eating Healthy

It's so important in recovery to eat healthy and exercise. Dr. Andrew Weil has some good tips on how to do that. Dr. Weil's Blog.

We're On TV!!!

Thanks to Laurie and Keith Tolen, many volunteers and S4R Advisory Council members were on Channel 5 news this morning!
Channel 5 WAVE. From this link, go to "Top Stories" "local news" on the right and then click on "Early addition for HIGH 5 Concord support group".

Happy 29th Anniversary to Keith and Laurie!

Dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory

It was such a success, we'll be having another one in a few months. People came in for dinner from 5:00pm until closing. Thank you to Heather, the General Manager at The Old Spaghetti Factory for allowing us to have this fundraiser. The top picture is Heather and Sara. The two women who started all of this. The bottom picture is the Support 4 Recovery Board of Directors, Nina, Tom, and Judy.

To see all of the pictures, please go to www.support4recovery.org/events.html
Thanks to all who supported us!

Treatment vs. Incarceration

California, with the nation's second-largest prison system, is considering a dramatic proposal -- releasing 40,000 inmates to save money and comply with a court ruling that found the state's prisons overcrowded.

They should start with the inmates we went to see today! These men have worked tirelessly to achieve not only recovery from drugs and/or alcohol but have helped others achieve it too!

Today was a day of celebrating Recovery Month. There was fantastic music, great conversations, and humor. Comedian Mark Lundholm was there along with Warden Robert K. Wong who presented a proclamation to the men who created the treatment program at San Quentin.

These men are outstanding in what they do and need to be recognized and supported for it. The few who started the treatment program at San Quentin need to be paroled so they can continue on the outside what they have so successfully begun inside a place where not very many good things happen.

Clean and Sober in San Quentin

Most times, you hear nothing but bad news about San Quentin or prisons in general. People very seldom hear about the good news. Well, tomorrow there will be plenty of good news!

At least 17 people are going out to San Quentin tomorrow to show their support for the men who have worked so incredibly hard to either become CAADAC Counselors or are graduates of the treatment program that was created by inmates.

There will be live music, comedy, and lots of fellowshiping. Mark Lundholm always come out with us every year. Three CAADAC Counselors have been paroled from San Quentin since we've started attending their Recovery Month event. Those three are doing some amazing work on the outside to continue helping people.

I wish I could say I'll post some good pictures from our trip....good memories will have to do...

Someone Loves You...