Recovery for Shore’s Rally for Recovery, set for June 3, 2017 in downtown Easton, will feature a special guest speaker, Bonnie Scott, Sharon Dundon, ad hoc coordinator for Recovery for Shore and program specialist for UM Shore Regional Health’s Substance Use Disorders Program, has announced.
Scott, shown at left, is founder of Rising Above Disease (RAD), a six-bed women’s recovery house in Easton that opened in November, 2016. In recovery herself for more than 12 years, Scott was inspired to take action as a positive force in the local recovery community after the death of her son in 2012 due to a heroin overdose. At the time, there were few residential recovery options locally and she disliked the prevailing model of recovery facilities on the western shore. “It seemed to me that people are warehoused, sometimes four to six people in a room, their phones are taken away and they are isolated in an unfamiliar location. That does not promote real rehabilitation,” she says.
With six other women, Scott began working on a plan for a recovery house where women could remain on the Eastern Shore near their jobs and their families. As she explains, “Our goal was to create a home-like, healing environment where we could help bring women out of the darkness and into the light. God sent me a wonderful committee and there was so much support that within 90 days, we had found, opened and furnished the house, and welcomed our first residents.”
In addition to recovery support and resources, RAD residents benefit from special activities including equine therapy, acupuncture and massage therapy. RAD is now under the umbrella of the Mid Shore Community Foundation and has received special support from The Women’s and Girls’ Fund.
The Rally for Recovery on June 3 begins at 3:30 p.m. with a walk from Christ Church to the Courthouse. Washington Street between Dover and Goldsborough Streets will be closed to traffic, 4 – 4:30 p.m., while the rally is in progress. The group will return to Christ Church by 5 p.m. for the “Alive at Five” Service celebrating recovery, followed by fellowship and refreshments on the Church lawn.
According to Dundon, rally organizers are seeking volunteers to bring ‘finger food’ donations – anything that does not have to be heated or refrigerated and can be consumed without utensils – for participants to enjoy after the service. Anyone interested in donating food or volunteering to assist with the event may call 410-822-1000, ext. 5469 or email recoveryforshore@gmail.com
The Rally for Recovery is open to persons in recovery as well as community advocates, individuals, families and friends whose lives have been touched by addiction and mental health issues, and other interested parties.
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