Dear SMART Recovery Volunteers,

Greetings on this first day of February! I don’t know if January went by as quickly for you as it did for me. My SMART Recovery meetings have been very full since the beginning of the year, as have the national meetings that we’ve moved from SROL into SMARTfinder. The word is getting out, and you all are a big part of that. Thank you! Please read on for a few updates.

Black History Month

February is Black History Month. We’d like to honor those who’ve paved the way for equity in the past by focusing on how we’re trying to remove barriers and create spaces for recovery to occur equitably for Black individuals in the present. In that spirit, I invite you to watch the recording of our webinar entitled Removing Barriers, Creating Spaces hosted in conjunction with Students Recover last week. Thank you to SMART’s Jas Hilbert for organizing this webinar to educate our community about the need for our new BIPOC meeting tag in SMARTfinder.

As I’ve studied race and racism in the United States, I’ve arrived at the mantra: Listen Humbly, Love Deeply, Shift Power. I invite you to listen to the webinar in that spirit. We’ve heard from many individuals that our willingness to create space for these experiences to be shared and amplified is important to them. As we seek to support all in benefiting from SMART Recovery, you’ll continue to see us assess what barriers might be in the way of equitable participation and what we can do as an organization to remove them.

In Memory of Bill Abbott

SMART Recovery has learned of the passing of Bill Abbott, a long-time SMART Recovery volunteer and advocate, on January 9, 2023. To learn about the impact that Bill had on SMART, you can read this profile of him from our 25th anniversary spotlight series. Dr. Joe Gerstein, one of our founders, has made a donation to support sending free books to new meetings in honor of Bill. Please join us in remembering and celebrating Bill, and the positive impact that he had on so many in the SMART Recovery community.

Use of SMART Recovery-Listed Email Addresses

Several individuals have expressed concern about recent direct marketing emails they received to the accounts they use for their SMART Recovery meetings from a fellow volunteer/former contractor of SMART Recovery. We have taken steps on our end to address those concerns. The last of the emails sent included publicity for an event being organized by one of our volunteer Regional Coordinators. That’s why there was a SMART zoom address listed for the event. Neither the Regional Coordinator nor the National Office authorized direct marketing of the event nationally to you, nor did we provide the email addresses that were used for that marketing. Thank you all for continuing to respect your fellow volunteers going forward by not using SMART Recovery-listed email addresses for anything other than meeting communications.

I Want to Hear from You

As I continue to learn more about my new role, I am very interested in hearing feedback you have about how the National Office can better serve you, your meetings, and your participants. Please don’t hesitate to drop me a line. Together, we can make SMART Recovery a household name and a program that equitably serves all.

Have a great February!

Peace,