Voice of the Recovery Community Award
Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery (CCAR) is the recipient of The Joel Hernandez Voice of the Recovery Community Award!
Learn more…
Rally for Recovery! 2008
Start planning your 2008 Rally for Recovery! event. This year's Rally for Recovery will take place on September 20, 2008! Learn more...
Frequently Asked Questions
- How can I get in touch with addiction recovery advocates in my community?
- What are Faces & Voices of Recovery's goals?
- What is Faces & Voices of Recovery’s history?
- Does Faces & Voices of Recovery support any particular approach or pathway to addiction recovery?
- What are the best words to use to describe addiction and recovery?
- Who is the recovery community?
- What is addiction?
- How many people in the U.S. are in recovery?
- Where can I go for help?
How can I get in touch with addiction recovery advocates in my community?
Face & Voices of Recovery maintains a comprehensive, growing directory of recovery advocacy groups.
What are Faces & Voices of Recovery's goals?
Faces & Voices of Recovery works to support, mobilize and organize advocates who are working to:
- develop and implement public policies that support recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs;
- break down barriers that preclude access to recovery;
- change public attitudes to prioritize addiction recovery and
- show the public and policymakers that recovery is happening for millions of Americans and their families in communities across America.
Faces & Voices of Recovery welcomes participation from all individuals and organizations who support its core principles, outlined in our Right to Addiction Recovery Platform.
What is Faces & Voices of Recovery’s history?
Faces & Voices of Recovery was founded in 2001 at a national summit of 200 recovery advocates. Most of these founders were already engaged in recovery advocacy in their own communities. The summit was the culmination of several years of work in other campaigns and public awareness efforts. It followed on the heels of increased public discourse about the need for improved addiction recovery policies. Faces & Voices of Recovery incorporated as a 501 (c)(3) corporation in 2004 and is governed by a 21-member Board of Directors.
Does Faces & Voices of Recovery support any particular approach or pathway to addiction recovery?
No. Faces & Voices has always worked to include and embrace people with all types of recovery experiences, including their family members and friends. The campaign’s founders stated that: “The campaign will demonstrate that millions of individuals and families from every walk of life have found recovery from alcohol and other drug addiction. It will show that there are many paths to recovery – self-help, professional treatment, medical interventions – and that all of these paths have proven to work.”
What are the best words to use to describe addiction and recovery?
Recovery advocates believe that times are changing – and the language needs to change, too. For example, now that science has helped us to see that alcoholism is an addiction, it should be referred to as an addiction just like a cocaine or heroin addiction. Many advocates find the use of the terms “abuse” and “substance abuse” as particularly troubling because they undermine the understanding that addiction is an illness, not a moral failure. Advocates hope a reform of the language can help society relinquish the stigma that comes with addiction to alcohol and other drugs, that the federal agencies that use the word abuse in their names will change those names, that journalists will refer to “people with addictions” and that organizations will discuss and reform their own language.
Who is the recovery community?
The recovery community is people in long-term recovery from alcohol and other drug addiction, their families, friends and allies.
What is addiction?
Addiction is a public health problem that affects many people and has wide-ranging social consequences. Addiction does begin when an individual makes a conscious choice to use drugs, but addition is not just “a lot of drug use.” Recent scientific research provides overwhelming evidence that not only do drugs interfere with normal brain functioning creating powerful feelings of pleasure, but they also have long-term effects on brain metabolism and activity. At some point, changes occur in the brain that can turn drug abuse into addiction, a chronic, relapsing illness.
Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse INFOFACTS, “Understanding Drug Abuse and Addiction”
How many people in the U.S. are in recovery?
No one knows exactly how many people are enjoying long-term in recovery in the U.S., but estimates are in the millions.
Where can I go for help?
Addiction treatment programs abound throughout the U.S., and there are several directories that can help point people in need to a nearby program. It is important to find a program that matches your needs and outlook. One place to begin your search is at the federal government’s Center for Substance Abuse Treatment facility locator.