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Recovery in the News
Recovery Coalition seeks visibility
Cameron Mathews
Wyoming Tribune Eagle
July 24, 2007
CHEYENNE - To them, recovering alcoholics and drug addicts are an invisible population hiding behind a mask of stigma and shame.
According to members of the Laramie County Recovery Coalition, the recovering community needs to become visible again.
"The coalition began so we could start celebrating people in recovery," said Sarah Binkley, an outreach worker for the Wyoming Oxford Houses and member of the coalition. "There is so little attention paid to people in recovery compared to the addiction part."
The coalition is a newly formed group of local residents, business owners, state employees and recovering addicts.
What started out as a four-person gathering in March is now a 12-person team looking to get bigger and stronger as time goes on.
Binkley said people in recovery are hidden by the many stigmas attached to the recovery process.
Employment is big, she said.
People in recovery think they can't get jobs because they have been on drugs or were an alcoholic.
Another issue: recovering addicts telling insurance agents that they need treatment.
"If they tell the agent that, the stigma is that they'll get laughed at," she said. "The agent will say, 'I'll give you 28 days (of treatment).' That's like getting 28 days of chemotherapy when you need a whole year."
Housing is another concern.
People think most of those in recovery have shot their credit and cannot get decent living accommodations.
To Binkley, that's a stigma that needs to go.
"I'm not in recovery, but I am a survivor of domestic violence because of alcoholism," Binkley said. "It stole my life, and if I can save one person now, that's a cool thing."
The coalition is still in its beginning stages, said Robert Keney, also a member of the organization.
While bylaws have been written, a board of directors still needs to be formed and more community support has to start flowing in. Officers are expected to be elected in October.
Keney has a vision of what the recovery coalition could become: a support network aimed at defending people in recovery from the shame stigmas bring.
"It's a positive backing for the recovery process," he said. "We are basically helping people get structured services by making the recovery process more accessible."
Coalition members intend to establish long traditions that will allow all men and women, family members and friends to advocate for anyone in recovery, the coalition's Web site says.
Members of the group will meet again on at 6 p.m. July 30 at 514 Killarney. The dates of later meetings can be found on the group's Web page at myspace.com.
Binkley and Keney encourage anyone interested in becoming a part of the coalition to attend the meetings.
"These people (recovering addicts) were at the bottom of the barrel," Binkley said. "But now they have so much worth."
MORE INFORMATION
To find out more about the Laramie County Recovery Coalition, visit www.laramiecountyrecoverycoalition.com. Mission and vision statements also be can found at www.myspace.com/laramiecountyrc.
For all other questions, contact coalition members Robert Keney at 221-3290 or Sarah Binkley at 221-3261.
Copyright © 2007 Wyoming Tribune-Eagle