The Recovery Bill of Rights
is a statement of the principle that all Americans have a right to recover from addiction to alcohol and other drugs. Learn more…
Advocate
Faces & Voices of Recovery is bringing together and mobilizing tens of thousands of individuals and organizations from across the country to advocate for policies and attitudes that will make recovery a reality for even more Americans. The goal of our advocacy work is to promote long-term recovery and help even more of our friends and neighbors overcome addiction by building a strong, organized recovery community.
The recovery community is organizing around key priorities – to gain needed resources and to end discrimination against people in or seeking long-term recovery. We are supporting local, state and regional recovery community organizations and raising their profile at the national level.
What Can You Do?
There are many ways that you can take action and be a face and a voice for recovery. The level of action that you take will depend on the stage of your recovery and your personal circumstances. If you don’t want to be public about your recovery, you can work as an advocate behind the scenes, providing financial and other support to our growing national movement. The important thing is, there’s something that you can do to support recovery today!
- Speak out as a person in long-term recovery or as a family member. Use our Recovery Messaging or Our Stories have Power to practice ways of talking about recovery and what it’s meant to you. Use our Advocacy with Anonymity brochure to learn how to tell your story without violating the traditions if you are in recovery using a 12-step program. Share your story with friends, neighbors, co-workers and policymakers.
- Educate yourself and others about Faces & Voices’ campaigns and the issues that are important to the recovery community. We have advocacy tools for you to use for specific campaigns like sample letters to the editor. Use our Recovery is a Reality powerpoint and ask to talk to PTA, Rotary Club, inmates at your local jail, Medical Society or other group. Subscribe to our eNewsletter for electronic updates.
- Hone your advocacy skills by participating in webinars and trainings. Faces & Voices and allied organizations host trainings that you can use to increase your effectiveness as an advocate.
- Educate your elected officials about pending issues. You can use our Online Advocacy Action Center to send emails to federal policymakers about national issues of importance to the recovery community. Invite your mayor, council member, state and federal elected officials to attend your events and activities.
- Join a local, regional or state-wide recovery community organization. Coming together with others to speak with one voice as an organized constituency increases the effectiveness of your advocacy voice. If there isn’t an organized recovery community organization where you live, we can help you get one started!
- Stay in touch with recovery advocates in your regional through Faces & Voices’ regional listservs. There’s a lot going on in communities around the country and we can learn from one another about new strategies and campaigns to get the word out about actions to take to support long-term recovery.