PodcastYaya Por Vida: Healing, Honoring, Helping |
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Yamila Rollan Escalona is the founder of the nonprofit Yaya Por Vida, an organization that helps those struggling with substance use in southeast Florida. Yamila was motivated to start this effort after losing her sister Yaritza (Yaya) to addiction. Yaya was a very talented artist throughout her life and her love of the arts provided a natural path for Yamila to follow.
Yaya Por Vida offers both healing through the arts and practical tools for harm reduction in a wide range of outreach initiatives and community collaborations. In this podcast Yamila talks about turning her rage against the senseless loss of life into a positive direction of hope, the joy that Yaya brought to others through her art, and why connecting with others is one of the most powerful forces to combat negative circumstances. |
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BlogMeeting People Where They Are |
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[Guest blog by SMART 's Director of Training Gus Curran]
When I began to attend SMART Recovery meetings back in 2016, I was glad to learn it was an abstinence-based program. I was looking to quit drinking entirely; Based on my many failed attempts, I knew in my heart that moderation was not an option for me. But I'll admit I was confused after a few meetings. Not everyone was abstaining in the way I understood it... |
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During October, we’re highlighting the Support This Meeting fundraising functionality in the SMARTfinder meeting finder system. To donate to SMART Recovery USA in honor of a specific meeting, navigate to the meeting page for that meeting in SMARTfinder and then click on the red “Support this Meeting” button. You can even set up a recurring monthly donation for your favorite meeting(s)! |
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We budget approximately $125 in direct meeting support expenses per in-person meeting each year and $425 per online meeting. As of today, we have 1,658 active meetings. If donations of just $25 were made in support of each of those meetings, we would raise an additional $41,000+ to support our operating budget, allowing us to allocate other resources to program development and outreach.
Every meeting that raises $25 will earn the opportunity to be selected to receive one free 2025 national conference registration for one of their meeting facilitators. Another five meetings that meet the $25 threshold will receive one free self-paced facilitator training to support a participant getting trained as a facilitator.
Facilitators, please encourage your participants to support SMART in this way during the month of October. Just send them to https://meetings.smartrecovery.org/, tell them to search for your meeting, open that meeting page, and then click on the “Support this Meeting” button. Group “pass the hat” donations should continue to be made via the group donation form.
Thank you for your support! |
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PodcastGetting Help for Financial Stress Caused by Problem Gambling |
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Alex De Marco is no stranger to financial distress. Childhood experiences and ill-advised business ventures convinced him that financial education, as boring as that might sound, was a key component for a healthy relationship with money. Eventually he combined his computer software skills with a desire to help those who had run into difficulties with debt--including those caused by compulsive gambling.
The result was the GamFin platform, a no-cost financial counseling service that focuses on solutions to problems caused by compulsive gambling. Alex is now eager to grow the platform and connect with more mental health providers in order to treat the individuals involved in a comprehensive way.
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BlogPermission to Live Beyond our Past |
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[Guest blog by SMART Facilitator Michael Cupps]
We all carry the weight of our pasts—our mistakes, failures, missed opportunities, and even the stories we've told ourselves about who we are. These experiences shape us, but they don't have to define us. Too often, we allow our pasts to create limits that hold us back from embracing the future with open arms. What if we recognized that our past isn't a cage, but a springboard?... |
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SMART Recovery USA’s National Conference will be held April 3-4, 2025 at the Hilton Charlotte Airport Hotel in Charlotte, NC. Registration information will be released in September. There will be breakout sessions for volunteers and professionals, and we are seeking 60-minute presentation proposals for both. This year's theme is Building Communities of Empowerment. Building on last year's conference, we intend to highlight how SMART can be at the forefront of building communities of empowerment at the local level. We have an unprecedented opportunity to make the promise of multiple pathways a reality today in more and more diverse communities. All submissions will be considered. However, we will prioritize presentations that relate to: Successful partnerships that have helped bring SMART to broader communities Strategies and techniques that strengthen SMART Recovery USA's values: Empowerment | Equity | Inclusion | Integrity | Accountability Adopting a harm reduction mindset to better include participants regardless of their chosen goal Growing and strengthening SMART’s Family & Friends program
Proposals are due on October 15, 2024. Notification of decisions will occur by December 14, 2024. Click below to learn more and submit! |
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¡SMART Recovery Está ahora en español! |
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