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Recovery in the News
Using TV to Break Barrier
Adam Sullivan
WCAX-TV
October 29, 2007
Once a week, White River Junction's Community Access Channel comes alive for a show called "Walking Through Life". It deals solely with the subject of addiction and mental illness-- which statistics show often go hand-in-hand. The show's host-- Linda Carbino-- suffers from both.
"I believe people want to tell their stories. They want to tell their survival stories too. Like I do. I survived a lot. And I found ways to improve my life and those are the things that I like to stress about," Carbino said.
The panel on this day includes two members of the Turning Point Recovery Center in White River.
"Addiction is not an individual disease. Quite frankly it is a societal disease. It manifests in the individual but it also manifests in the people around the individual," said Mark Helijas of Turning Point.
There are 8 recovery centers like this one around Vermont. They hold meetings and offer assistance to those suffering from addiction. But, staff say the centers often go un-noticed because of the clients they serve.
"That is the way it has been in the past because of the prejudice and the stigma associated with the illness but I think what we are really about is saying ok, we are now in the 21st century, we can now let go of that archaic model, we can move out into he sunlight where we belong," Helijas said.
Or spotlight for that matter. Staff at the television station say "Walking Through Life" fits in with the station's overall mission.
"Part of CATV's mission, I think all public access is to try to reach out to communities so people can tell stories about what they believe in, causes that they believe in and as a freedom of speech," said Bob Franzoni.
Speech inspired by a woman who is publicly willing to face her own flaws and give others a chance to do the same.
"The one thing that I always ask someone who is giving a personal story is if there is one thing that you would want the whole world to know about your story, what would it be? And the majority of them have wonderful messages," Carbino said.
A message Carbino hopes we can all use through life's ups and downs.
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