So often I attend public meetings involving discussion about me and my fellow Delawareans healthcare. This is because addiction is just one small piece of healthcare as a whole. I am tired of addiction being looked at as the elephant in the room, and treated as though addiction has something to do with a lower intelligence score. People must identify their own story, not the girl from up the street. How do you identify? What does your recovery look like?
When I sit in a room with professional clinical providers, I feel much more at ease than when I am sitting in a room with self-proclaimed advocates that are obsessed with getting their hands on the data, yet can not seem to connect with the human beings behind the numbers. This shows great concern and lack of professionalism on a public level. Have these people been trained who want to get a hold of the personal information or do they have a side agenda called Mr. Pharm. Whether we think it or not, many people who are advocating and saying that they care about people with addiction are actually funded by the same groups causing the problem.
Be wary of the sad stories. We all have sad stories and many have yet to be brought to light. I was inspired to write today because I just left a pretty hopeful meeting.. The members sitting around the table were not concerned about press or ego. They were more concerned with the on-the-ground work and how they can gear up to give the toolkit needed to be a catalyst for change.
The members were most concerned about equity, cultural competency and Care for LGBTQ communities.
Ahhhh... A breath of fresh air. People not fearing to speak up in a firm sophisticated way. These are the people I want setting the foundation and building the pillars to recovery. This is only the beginning, but appreciate honesty and good governance.
When will we be able to discuss the disparity and our teenagers suffering with lack of adult guidance which leads them to addiction? It will not be A high school, but it will be ALL high schools that start to implement Compassionate Care practices in our hardest to reach kids and their schools. I want you to know that sometimes the hardest to reach kid is the most talented, the most hard working, the most loving and just as equally worthy of the services Delaware has to provide.
Cultivate the leadership through the streets. Call them Hope. CALL ON THEM.
Do not disregard because you do not understand or because of fear of what your peers will think of you. Your action may lead to the solution to the problems we face in our communities.
Thank you to the Mental Health Association for sticking by the recovery community no matter what and setting a precedent on what treating people with dignity and respect looks like. SHOW PEOPLE THE WAY, show them there is hope.
Break it down. MAP IT OUT. Create a blueprint to recovery using the resources that are located in local communities of change. Centralize the help so people can access that help.
Scenario: If you couldn’t walk more than a block, how can the services 5 blocks away help you?
How can the special interest group really be invested and empathetic if it does not live in your community or ever come to visit? SHARE A MEAL WITH A TEEN. Better yet, make a meal with a teen. Imagine that.
I ask these questions because I literally see the disconnection. When I hear people speaking of a community I care deeply about and how they have the solutions, yet they would never dare step foot in that area after 5pm. I become frustrated, sad and disheartened.
It hurts. I know I Do not have the solution to addiction or the gross blight we are facing, but I do know our teens and our families especially moms, NEED HOPE. Hope doesn’t come perfectly packaged. Hope just comes. Hope is just always there. We have to look for her. We have to fight for her. We have to respond to her call for drastic change.
Hope is something a teen can connect with. Hope is something a Veteran can connect with. Hope is something a person with addiction can believe in.
Hope needs a place for people to come and know they will not be judged or disciminated against if they ask for help.
Break it down to the hope. It’s just a small parcel that can light up the darkest of places. You may feel hopeless, like this fight is over and just want to give up, but, I Urge you to fight for hope.
Hope is in the board room when you make decisions and she is sitting with the pregnant girl who has no one to coach her through the fear of becoming a mother. Hope doesn’t have extravagant lifestyles or lots of Gold. Hope has a heart that can never be sold. Some things you just can't put a price on, they are way more expensive than gold.
When I break it down and try to map it out, I see potential but, I Also see great need for human capital to go in and help. I heard a call. The call is undeniable once you hear it. When you are given a second chance to breath again, you do not take that lightly and I know with my self I feel a duty to give back to the meek because I am the meek.
Addiction in our families is no joke and can not always have precise predictions and a perfect bow tie. What everyone needs to understand is that one person can make a dent in the scourge of addiction. Now, imagine if 30 people were trying to put a dent in the scourge. They work together to bring hope to people and families with addiction. The create a master plan together. This master plan can only be approved if they work together. GET THE STAMP OF HOPE.
WHAT DO YOU NEED?
You do not need much.
Maybe a heart, a brain, some courage, a pencil and a few sheets of paper.
Just be there for someone, that might be the hope they need to jump start their brain to try recovery.
Erin Goldner
#YouAreNotAlone #NEVERGIVEUP
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