A Recovery Month tribute written by NACoA CEO/President Denise Bertin-Epp
Over the years, I have had the privilege of witnessing and working together with extraordinary colleagues—people who have dedicated their lives and careers to helping individuals and families impacted by the disease of addiction. My heart is full of gratitude for each of you.
You are the listeners in 12-step meetings, the coffee companions who hold space for another’s story, and the professionals in inpatient and outpatient treatment who show up day after day with compassion and skill. You are the prevention specialists in schools, the recovery community organizations (RCOs) and community agencies that ensure service delivery, and the innovators who create multiple pathways to recovery—meeting people where they are and offering hope.
You are the interventionists who walk with individuals and families in the earliest moments of crisis. You are the treatment teams—call center and admissions personnel, assessment teams, therapists, counselors, peer recovery coaches, nurses, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, and chaplains—each role essential, each heart committed.
You are the treatment court teams, deflection, and diversion specialists, first responders who save lives in moments of overdose, law enforcement officers who choose recovery over incarceration, and judges who see the human being before them. You are the emergency room staff, the case managers guiding continuing care and aftercare, and the teams behind sober homes, recovery residences, equine therapy programs, and adventure-based recovery initiatives.
You are the researchers searching for better treatments and cures, and the leaders and administrators who support clinicians in carrying out their life-saving work. You are, in every sense, a community of helpers.
For all of you—whether I have named your role or not—thank you. Thank you for your work, your dedication, your willingness to embrace creative solutions, and your refusal to judge those walking the road of recovery. Thank you for helping people with this chronic disease not only survive, but find a new life filled with purpose, connection, and hope.
Because of you, recovery is possible; healing is possible. Because of you, lives are changed. Because of you, hope is real.
Learn more about family recovery and how professionals can help.
