[FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE]
RecoveryPeople has been awarded the 2022 Hogg Peer Policy Fellowship grant. The Hogg Foundation’s policy fellowship provides substantial opportunities for networking with legislators, their staff, and policy experts. The grant also provides opportunities for the fellows’ professional development, supports organizational capacity building and empowers the voices of lived experience in policy development and implementation. RecoveryPeople’s focus is to increase access to recovery housing and recovery support services across Texas.
We are excited to announce that Chelsea Biggerstaff is our 2022 Peer Policy Fellow. Chelsea Biggerstaff is a person in long-term recovery from substance use. Her personal experience with recovery has led her to find purpose in helping others build community and create a strong sense of belonging while on their own recovery journey. She previously managed a recovery house for women with children involved with the Travis County Family Drug Treatment Court program, as well as worked to develop a collegiate recovery program for Austin Community College. Chelsea is a certified Recovery Support Peer Specialist (RSPS), and is currently working towards her Peer Specialist Supervisor (PSS) certification. She spent the last several years as a Peer Recovery Coach for an Austin-based recovery community organization (RCO), supporting individuals with substance use and/or co-occurring disorders.
These experiences navigating recovery support services have shown her the importance of educating local communities and advocating for individual choice and protections for people with substance use issues and related mental health challenges. She looks forward to working with legislative offices to promote quality recovery housing and better laws regarding patient brokering and exploitation.