Join Us!
America Honors Recovery
The Washington Club
15 Dupont Circle
Washington, DC
June 22, 2011
6-8pm
Become a sponsor
Buy a ticket
Back row: Peter Shinholser, Senior Peer Coordinator, Daniel Payne, Executive Director,
John Shinholser, President, Mike Mason, Director of Development
Front row: Patty Valentine, Senior Peer Leader, Honesty Liller, Executive Peer Coordinator,
Hunter Jones, IT Support
THE MCSHIN FOUNDATION, Richmond, VA
The McShin Foundation is led and governed by the recovery community – people in long-term recovery, their families, friends and allies. Since it was founded 7 years ago in Richmond, Virginia, McShin has worked tirelessly to link the recovery community with families, professional allies, and the community as a whole.
McShin’s Recovery Community Center is in the basement of a church and is open to the public 7 days a week, 10 hours a day. McShin has forged special relationships with local Sheriffs as part of its flagship local jail program directly bringing the hope and reality of long-term recovery to inmates in Richmond’s jails. Over 1,000 people directly enjoy the services of peer recovery support weekly by way of phone, person-to-person recovery coaching as well as at the Recovery Community Center that is a safe facility to host 12-step meetings or groups.
McShin engages individuals early in recovery in advocacy and public education, helping individuals learn see and experience advocacy as part of the citizenship of being a recovering person. The McShin Foundation has launched several legislative initiatives including developing a VA State Legislature Caucus on Recovery and reimbursement for recovery housing. “We each have a part to play at each stage of our recovery even though it might not be a speaking role early on.”
McShin is an unfaltering resource in Virginia for individuals and families seeking hope. It provides prevention and recovery support services including recovery housing and has been a leader in peer coaching, training and recovery advocacy. The McShin Foundation is a powerhouse each September during Recovery Month. Its 2010 celebration featured more than 7000 people for their BBQ cook-off including elected officials and people from many pathways to recovery. Their annual Bluegrass Festival to celebrate recovery from addiction is quickly becoming a local favorite. They host state legislators and local celebrities at other recovery events throughout the year.
2011 VERNON JOHNSON AWARD HONOREES
MIKE BARRY
CEO, People Advocating Recovery (PAR), Kentucky
Mike Barry is a person in long-term recovery whose dynamic leadership has helped Kentucky’s statewide recovery community organization, People Advocating Recovery,grow from a group of five hard-working individuals to a 5,000 member statewide organization. PAR’s mission is to reduce discrimination for those in recovery from addiction and help those still seeking recovery.
Mike has been a passionate advocate for PAR’s mission, mobilizing, organizing, training and rallying thousands of recovering people, their families, friends and allies to the cause. He has forged strategic partnerships, resulting in a new statewide People Advocating Recovery-Advocacy Training Center to help spread the message of recovery. He is a knowledgeable and dynamic speaker at conferences and is frequently called upon to give expert testimony before the Kentucky Legislature.
Mike is on theExecutive Committee of the Voting Rights Coalition in KY, a member of the KY Co-Occurring Advisory Council, the Substance Use Disorder Advisory Group of the Greater Cincinnati Health Foundation, founding Board Member of Addiction Recovery Advocates of Kentucky (ARAK) and founding Board Member and past Vice-President of Faces & Voices of Recovery.
Before his work as a recovery advocate, Mike enjoyed a distinguished 40-year career in broadcast news and has brought those talents to his current job with frequent radio and TV interviews about his personal and professional journey in recovery.
JIM GILLEN
Director, Anchor Recovery Community Center, Rhode Island
Jim Gillen is a person in long-term recovery and a devoted champion of the recovery movement. He’s the director of Rhode Island’s first recovery center, Anchor Recovery Community Center, and Clinical Coordinator of Recovery Services at The Providence Center.
Jim’s contributions to the recovery community are extraordinary. Through his own personal outreach and his work at Anchor Recovery Community Center and The Providence Center, Jim has connected hundreds of Rhode Islanders to treatment, employment, housing and other recovery supports.
Under Jim’s leadership, Anchor Recovery Community Center has become a resource for thousands of people in recovery, providing access to recovery groups, employment and education services, wellness activities, yoga and art classes, sober social events, telephone recovery support and more.
As Rhode Island’s Medication Assisted Recovery advocate, Jim fights for the rights of the recovery community. He conducts regular education groups for inmates and organizes and trains volunteers to provide peer-to-peer support as recovery coaches.
Jim is one of the founding organizers of Rhode Island’s largest statewide recovery celebration, Rally4Recovery, which drew over 3,000 participants in 2010. He has testified before the Rhode Island legislature and is the former director of RICARES.
Over the years, Jim’s advocacy efforts have been recognized by many local and national organizations and featured in many print articles and media appearances. He has also received many awards including the Jefferson Award for Community Service and the RI Homeless Coalition’s Sr. Judy Soares and John Coen award for dedication to helping the homeless.
Jim is a member of the Rhode Island Governor’s Council on Behavioral Health and the Pawtucket and Providence Mayor’s Council for Drug Abuse Prevention. He is a board member of the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless and is on the accreditation board for Chemical Dependency Professional Licensure. Jim has trained emergency response personnel for mental health and addiction awareness, an initiative he began in the state and is a founding member of Faith Infused Recovery Efforts, another resource for the recovery community.
When Jim is not working tirelessly to support the recovery community, he finds time to perform as a professional storyteller and dazzle audiences with his dynamic musical troupe, the Recovery All Stars.
ROLAND LAMB
Director, Office of Addiction Services, Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health, Philadelphia, PA
Roland Lamb has been an unrelenting recovery advocate throughout his distinguished 35 year career in the addiction field.
Roland has been singularly responsible for transforming Philadelphia's network of addiction treatment providers. Under Roland's leadership, the Office of Addiction Services has increased access to addiction treatment services, expanded post-treatment support and early re-intervention services, and dramatically expanded indigenous recovery community resources.
Roland has also launched several programs to spread the message of recovery including establishing recovery community centers, recovery homes, and recovery ministries. He has sponsored recovery conferences, recovery leadership development institutes, storytelling training (for recovery advocates), and numerous recovery celebration events. Roland is also involved in the development of an anti-stigma campaign that includes public and professional educational programs and recovery murals that are being dedicated throughout Philadelphia.
Roland’s work has received national and international recognition and is being replicated in countless communities in the United States and Europe.
Roland is a person in recovery who is also an outspoken orator and author of the recovery movement. His speeches and writings on the "recovery revolution in Philadelphia" have gained national recognition and inspired others to join the movement. As Roland himself has said, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Recovery. "
For his outstanding service in the field, Roland has received numerous awards including The Dole Nyswander (Marie) Award (2010) conferred by the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence (AATOD), the DRC/Gaudenzia Outstanding Service Award (2010), the Dr. Lorraine Hinkle Award for Outstanding Contribution in the Field, Villanova University Continuing Education Program (2008), the CSP Bernie Ferry Award for Consumer Service in the area of Addiction (2007), and most recently the Suffering Peoples Award, One Day At A Time (ODAAT) (2011).
Faces & Voices of Recovery and Hazelden's Center for Public Advocacy have joined together to host America Honors Recovery honoring the legacies of Joel Hernandez and Vernon Johnson. For questions, please email or call us at (202)737-0690.
