Recovery Force is guided by the evidence-based practices of these national organizations and are proudly affiliated with their programs

Recovery Force was founded to provide advocacy and support to people and families impacted by addiction because the world we live in is ridden with stigma that makes it difficult to always be treated fairly and competently. Without voices that ask questions and get answers and hands willing to knock on closed doors and have them opened, people with substance use disorders (SUD) and their families would have no choice but to accept whatever was handed to them. The system assures that shame will maintain silence and enable unacceptable responses to the needs of people with a medical condition to persist. The work of Recovery Force is the product of the national Recovery Advocacy Movement, created by people in recovery and their loved ones to confront a system that was not effectively treating their condition and was actually mistreating SUD patients. People with SUDs were punished for their symptoms as opposed to being treated for them as if they were voluntary choices. Half the country still believes addiction is a moral failing or character deficiency and not a medical condition. Among that half are doctors, nurses, teachers, law enforcement officers, judges, counselors, preachers, landlords, health care administrators, human resources specialists, mayors, lawyers, journalists, county commissioners and some of the very policy makers responsible for developing a response to the opioid epidemic. Recovery community organizations have been working hard for the past 20 years to protect its own from system failures at the hands of people who have contempt for those suffering and their families due to a SUD. At the heart of our effort is an attack on the addiction stigma and ensuring that the people of Atlantic City and Atlantic County receive the best evidence-based practices for preventing, treating and recovering from substance use disorders.

 

We are made up entirely of trained volunteers comprised of people and families impacted by addiction. We offer a gold-standard Recovery Coach Academy that prepares members of the Force with the skills and modern schools of thought, based on science, for effectively providing peer support to people and families with SUDs and for advocating for their needs. 

 

Recovery Force is an affiliate of the national Addiction Policy Forum (APF) and works to bring their advancements in understanding addiction and preventing and treating it to the families in Atlantic County. Frankly, there is much work to be done in this area as many needs continue to be addressed using obsolete strategies that hardly consider the evidence-based work being performed throughout the country. An entire world of recovery support exists that there remains no sign of in Atlantic County but which drastically improves the outcomes for people and families impacted by SUDs. In the most successful communities, people with SUDs are provided what they actually need to recover following treatment in areas of housing, follow up monitoring and the time and support needed to create a new life after addiction. Getting there is our fight and our passion. 

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