Chelsea Biggerstaff, RSPS, PSS

Chelsea Biggerstaff, RSPS, PSS

Peer Policy Fellow

 

Chelsea Biggerstaff is a person in long-term recovery from substance use and mental health challenges. In 2021, Chelsea obtained her Associates of Arts degree in Social Work and is now pursuing her BSW at The University of Texas at Austin.

As RecoveryPeople’s Peer Policy Fellow, she uses her lived experience and passion for advocacy to impact policy and program development. Chelsea’s subject matter expertise and interests include:

  1. Recovery Leadership and Workforce Development – Chelsea is a certified Recovery Support Peer Specialist (RSPS), and is currently working towards her Peer Specialist Supervisor (PSS) certification. She has first hand knowledge of the joys and challenges of the peer to career pathway. She is interested in lowering recovery workforce barriers and mobilizing the recovery workforce community.
  2. Recovery Community Organizations (RCOs) / Peer Driven Organizations (PDOs) – Before her role with RecoveryPeople, Chelsea worked for a local recovery community organization (RCO) located in Austin, TX, where she was able to provide recovery support to individuals with substance use and/or co-occurring mental health issues. Currently, she is working policymakers to increase support for Peer Driven Organizations (PDOs), which is an umbrella terms that is inclusive of both Recovery Community Organizations (RCOs) serving the substance use recovery community and Consumer Operated Service Organizations (COSPs) serving the mental health recovery community.
  3. Recovery Housing for Justice Involved and Unstably Housed – Due to her own previous challenges with incarceration and homelessness, Chelsea developed a passion for working with members of the community with similar backgrounds of intersectionality. She has previously managed a recovery house for women and children involved with the Travis County Family Drug Treatment Court program, as well as provided peer support to women incarcerated in the Travis County Correctional Complex.
  4. Collegiate Recovery – In 2021, Chelsea worked to establish the Students in Recovery Program at Austin Community College. She has learned the importance of building community for support. Creating a strong sense of belonging became vital to her own recovery journey, and she has found purpose in helping others do the same.

Chelsea has previously been a contributing member of the Health and Human Services SUD Leadership Review Group, as well as served in multiple roles on the leadership team for the Greater Austin ROSC.