6/16/2007
Another successful ‘Empowerment Day’ has come and gone and it just keeps getting better. The ‘Matrix Theatre’ is a group of MI, DD, and SA consumers known Nationwide, who puts on plays about their experiences in the system. They spoke a little about their efforts and offered discounts to Clubhouses and Drop In Centers to attend their plays. Veda Sharp, (D-WCCMHA, Deputy Director) spoke on the Agency’s support and dedication to the advancement of the Peer Support Movement. Living independently is something that must be prepared for, and Yuself Seegars (Disability Network) presented on the importance of, and how to have all mechanisms in place prior to taking that step towards independent living.
The ‘Silo Effect’ is when treatment organizations confine themselves to one building and consumers must go there to access whatever recovery tools are being offered. However, under a transformed system, organizations ‘Must be willing to meet the consumer wherever they are”. This requires having easily accessible ‘Community Based & Consumer Operated’ satellite facilities that provide (either directly or through referrals) the community trouble free access to the system. In 2003 The ‘Detroit Recovery Project’ opened ‘The Welcome Center’ in a home on East Grand Boulevard, and in 2006 opened the ‘Relapse Prevention Center’ in Highland Park. Andre Johnson (Bureau of Substance Abuse) the brains and energy behind this community collaborative spoke and I am proud to say that his dreams of a recovering community, are the exact same as ours.
Over the past year Dr. Harriett Green (Medical Director- BHPI) has been doing an in depth study of the Peer Support Manual from an administrative point of view. She presented “The Role of Peer Support in System Transformation”. Dr. Green has demonstrated a willingness to go where we are, listening with an open mind to our wishes, hopes, and grievances. She has compiled a practical, easy to follow method of how Peer Support can fit smoothly into current systems of treatment and recovery, based on Federal recommendations. Shirley Cockrell (Free Press, May 8th) the Director of the Go-Getters Drop In Center gave us “A Consumer Perspective”. She spoke of her years dealing with Co-Occurring disease, and of her ‘Epiphany’ in 1993, and the realization that she alone had control over her life. Shirley has devoted her entire life to helping others, and she does the Peer Movement proud.
Gabriel Williams and Tom Burden both gave “from the heart” talks on “What Peer Support Means to Me”. True Peer Support is something that comes from the heart, and not all who are Certified Peer Support Specialists are true Peer Supporters. If it were possible to choose the top 5 true Peer Support Specialists in the State, Joe Hodge’s name would be among them. Mr. Hodge told us how he was recently let go from work due to administrative issues, and wound up at Detroit East. If you recall, Detroit East sponsored the first Empowerment Day, and has consistently demonstrated support for the Peer Movement. Both Detroit East and Joe come out winners, and it is going to be interesting to see how much progress they will have made a year from now.
I am told the consumer band ‘Recovery’ did great; my problem is that when I am blowing my horn, I have a tendency to be so involved that I miss out on some valuable audience feedback. However, I shall be eternally grateful to Clifford and Lamasa Pace for letting me be a part of making their hopes and dreams become a reality. Henceforth, if anyone asks me what the end product of Peer Support looks like, I have only to point to them.
Spirituality in Recovery
When I first met Andria Jackson, we were on our way to the first training at Higgins Lake, and I don’t think she said more than five words during the trip. When I asked her to speak for this conference, I told her to just speak from the heart. For some reason I knew she had something valuable to say. Not in my wildest imagination did I think she was going to be as impressive as she was. As she spoke it became clear to me what is meant when people say the ‘Holy Spirit’ was working through a person. Andria has suffered a lot, and at the conference she turned all that suffering into positive energy that flowed like nectar, quenching the thirst of those needing validation, the consumers.
We are not guaranteed success in recovery, nor is there certainty that we will ever get into the right program that fits are particular needs. There are no assurances that anyone will even care about our plight. The one thing that is absolute is this: someone in a position of authority, (through either lack of knowledge, insensitivity, or just not caring) will hurt us. Thus, when the system encounters someone who is serious about their recovery, you can bet that person has had many disappointments and setbacks. ‘No Atheists in Trenches’, ‘Whatever does not kill you, makes you stronger’ are adages pointing out that through suffering, people become stronger. The good part is that he or she also learned some valuable insight into the entire recovery process that need be shared with anyone wise enough to listen.
While organizing the first Peer Support training for the State of Michigan, Mary Beth Evans (Peer Support Statewide Coordinator) was with child and due almost any day. Yet she kept right on working, even sacrificing her time with her husband and two children to assure the training ran smoothly, and she never complained. I am certain that had she not done what she did, the movement would not be where it is today. Thus you can tell a true Peer Supporter when he/she exhibits some of the same attitudes as Mary Beth which are: humility, an honest and pure love for others, a willingness to put ones own issues aside to help another, and under no circumstances be willing to consciously hurt another consumer. If you do not see these traits, that person is a Peer Supporter in name only.
Yes, the Peer Support Freedom Train has left the station taking us to a better day where we will be appreciated not on the basis of how many administrators we have pleased, but for how many others we have helped. We will be honored for the suffering we have endured, and our desire to willingly go back into the fray to save our brothers and sisters going through what we went through. Our values of, integrity, honesty, compassion, trust, and humility, will be our hallmark. I apologize to those not mentioned in this letter, James Child Savior, Genevieve Clark, James Lindsey, and the folks from ‘Micro Enterprise’, as their contributions were just as vital as everyone else. I have a good feeling that next years Empowerment Day will be even better.
Gerald Butler
CPSS
Advocate
No comments:
Post a Comment