Alabama Recovery Network/Friends of Recovery-Alabama (ARN/FOR-AL)

The Alabama Recovery Network/Friends of Recovery-Alabama (ARN/FOR-AL) was created as a statewide recovery-based network to mobilize the recovery community, their family members, significant others, friends and supporters and to develop leadership abilities, skills and knowledge among its membership in 2001. The goals are (1) to educate public officials, policy makers, the business community and the general public to reduce the stigma associated with addiction and to eliminate the barriers to recovery; and (2) to participate in the discussion with public and private sectors on local, state, and national levels and participate in the planning, delivery and evaluation of addiction treatment, intervention, and prevention services to increase access to treatment and to improve outcomes. The need for the creation of a recovery network was established during a two-day summit sponsored by the National Alliance for Model State Drug Laws and the Council on Substance Abuse-NCADD in January 2001. During the Alabama Summit workgroups investigated such substance abuse issues as treatment, the work place, schools, communities, and issues dealing with law enforcement. This meeting was first in the history of Alabama to convene such a diverse group to evaluate our state’s resources and gaps relating to substance abuse laws, policies and services. One of the common concerns throughout the summit was the problem of access to treatment and the need for more support services. During Alabama Summit and follow-up meetings, a need to have more participation by members of the recovery community, their families, friends and allies in the planning, design, delivery and evaluation of addiction treatment and related issues on a local, state, and national level was identified. It was also the consensus of these participants that a definite need exists to educate the community, policy makers, political leaders and the general public. As long as there is the stigma of a “self-inflicted disease,” not much change will take place. Stigma is often a hidden, toxic condition that works to paralyze those in recovery, their families and the practitioners who treat them. In order to reach a better understanding of stigma, heal the effects of stigma and explore options for reducing stigma in society, the first annual Alabama Hearing On Stigma was conducted January 3, 2002 in Montgomery at the Civic Center. This highly successful hearing provided individuals from Alabama with the opportunity to present their concerns and issues regarding stigma and addiction in Alabama. Addiction is a potentially lethal disorder, but that lethality is dramatically amplified by the social stigma attached to the disorder. Stigma exists to divide people. Stigma's greatest enemy is knowledge. Healing the Stigma of Addiction will help open the doorway to such knowledge. It is time we all walked through that doorway. Public Awareness Campaigns and other stigma-reduction efforts are designed to reduce this division and to create greater unity. ARN/FOR-AL coordinates Recovery Month in Alabama and is holding stigma hearings throughout the state. ARN/FOR-AL has 10 regions with a chairperson in each. For upcoming recovery events, click here. To participate call:334-262-1629 Email:csancadd@bellsouth.net back to top