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On August 19, treatment and recovery in Washington, DC, got a boost from the DC Recovery Community Alliance (DCRCA). The recently-formed coalition hosted a well-attended training to help people in recovery become local advocates for the concerns of the recovery community.
DC has an acute need for such advocacy. According to the mayor's own reports, 60,000 people in the city need drug treatment, but only 14% have access to it. Funding for the city's Addiction Prevention and Recovery Administration has remained flat since the 1980s. The only way to increase city support for treatment and recovery is to demonstrate that there is a constituency paying attention to--and voting based on--what elected officials do on this issue.
Part of Saturday's training was conducted by Naomi Long, director of DPA's DC Metro Area office. She talked about the importance of building a visible, voting constituency, and about the state of treatment and substance abuse in DC. Other presenters focused on general advocay skills and a broader national picture of recovery and treatment.
The training marked the first event for the DCRCA, which was formed over the last several months by people in long-term recovery with the support of DPA and theÂ*Johnson Institute. The coalition nearly doubled its membership thanks to the training, and as a next step, DCRCA members will decide what local issues to take on as a coalition.
Naomi Long said, "This training was a key moment. It is common for people in recovery to live in anonymity, so it's exciting to see people joining together to speak out and have a public impact where it is so desperately needed."
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