Answering the Call to Civic Engagement and Public Service

Across the nation, people in recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs, their families, friends and allies are engaging friends, neighbors and leaders on all sides of the political aisle in the 2010 election cycle as part of Recovery Voices Count. They are registering voters, asking candidates questions organizing Candidate Forums and Town Hall meetings and will be Getting Out the Vote on Election Day. "By participating in nonpartisan civic engagement, we are educating the public and candidates for office about the reality of recovery from addiction and will be turning out the vote on November 2nd," said Faces & Voices Executive Director Pat Taylor.

A June 23, 2010 Burlington, VT town hall forum hosted by the Turning Point Center and Friends of Recovery Vermont (FOR-VT) will feature candidates in the State's Governor's race. The Recovery Voices Count campaign is nationwide. According to Fred Martin, who organized Recovery Voices Count activities with Pennsylvania Recovery Organization-Achieving Community Together (PRO-ACT) in 2008 and is heading up this year's campaign in Philadelphia, "It is very empowering for many in the recovery community who have prior convictions to learn that voting is a right and a responsibility that they can exercise to the fullest. They also realize how important it is to be educated on the candidates' positions."

The 2010 Recovery Voices Count campaign's organizing tools include the 2010 Guide to Nonpartisan Civic Engagement, Questions for Candidates and other materials. Campaign Coordinator Naomi Long will host a Recovery Voices Count teleconference on June 3, 2010 at 1:00 pm Eastern. Registration is free at www.facesandvoicesofrecovery.org.

Faces & Voices is working intensively with lead recovery community organizations and allies in twelve states: Colorado (Advocates for Recovery); Connecticut (Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery); South Carolina (FAVOR-SC); Virginia (McShin Foundation); Minnesota (Minnesota Recovery Connection); Missouri (Missouri Recovery Network); Maryland (NCADD-Maryland); New Jersey (NCADD-New Jersey); Ohio (Ohio Citizen Advocates); Kentucky (PAR-People Advocating Recovery); Pennsylvania (PRO-ACT); and Massachusetts (MOAR- Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery).

About Faces & Voices of Recovery
Faces & Voices of Recovery is working to mobilize, organize and rally the millions of people in recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs, their families, friends and allies in a campaign to end discrimination; broaden social understanding; and achieve a just response to addiction as a public health crisis. For more information visit: www.faceandvoicesofrecovery.org

About the author:Betty Currier, CASAC, CPP-R
Betty Currier was a founding board member of Faces & Voices of Recovery and now serves on its Membership/Outreach Committee. She is a person in long-term recovery since January 1976, a New York State Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor (CASAC) and a founding member of Friends of Recovery of Delaware and Otsego Counties, a recovery community organization in upstate New York. She blogs on recovery community issues as well as developments involving Faces & Voices of Recovery.