Our Current Services
Learning Communities
Groups of individuals with a similar focus that meet to learn from each other or develop a solution
Research and Evaluation
Develop, implement or manage data collection and analysis to evaluate performance and drive decisions.
Our Previous Work
The Scott Daniel program was developed in 2010 through a donation in the memory of Scott Daniel. The program’s goal was to support lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender persons in recovery. The funding was used to expand the capacity of SoberHood’s gay/bi men’s recovery home. Within 6 months, the program met its objective: full self-sustainability.
Scott Daniel was a prominent attorney in Houston who developed mental health and substance use issues. Those close to him believed that, in part, stigma around his sexual orientation contributed to his suicide. His tragic death reminds us of the higher rates of health issues within the LGBT population. Learn more about LGBT Recovery in our Recovery Academy.
In 2014, we were awarded a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration’s (SAMHSA’s) Million Hearts grant, a wellness initiative aimed at preventing 1 million heart attacks and strokes by 2017. Because persons with substance use and/or mental health disorders are more likely to have co-occurring heart health issues, we produced a special RecoveryPeople podcast series to increase awareness, reduce risk, and improve the management of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and promote the Eight Dimensions of Wellness. The eleven episode series began May 2014 and is available for free on RecoveryPeople’s Blog or iTunes.
Through our Recovery Academy, you can access our Million Hearts courses, which include educational resources on cardiovascular health screenings, weight loss, physical activity and smoking cessation as well as emotional, environmental, financial, intellectual, occupational, physical, social and spiritual wellness.
As a part of the wellness campaign, RecoveryPeople hosted a Sober Softball Tournament. The winning team was presented with a trophy at the 2014 Big Texas Recovery Rally as a part of Recovery Month and National Wellness Week September 15th to the 21st. The following year, the Sober Recreational Committee continued and expanded the Sober Softball Tournament program, which is now a part of RecoveryATX ongoing activities.
In 2015, we won a SAMHSA BRSS TACS contract to develop a Peer Healthcare Advocate (PHA) curriculum, which is now available in our Recovery Academy. Through the contract, we delivered online training to peers, peer workers/leaders and peer-run recovery community organizations, with a specific focus on recovery residence providers, to increase awareness and knowledge of health reform and support, create, and disseminate educational material initiated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010. A social media promotion and awareness campaign was used to cost effectively enroll peer leaders into the training, engage the target audience, and connect them with education materials.
In 2014, RecoveryPeople was awarded a 3-year Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Recovery Community Services Program Statewide Network (RCSP SN) grant to launch a statewide peer network. The program’s purpose was to empower and mobilize peers across Texas through workforce, leadership and infrastructure development activities. Initial challenges were overcome by implementing a network weaving or network of networks approach, which is described more in our Recovery Academy.
- Local Coalitions/Collaboratives - To develop the local infrastructure within the statewide network, we encouraged recovery organizations and leaders to form local coalitions or collaboratives. For example, the Austin coalition formed and adopted the name the Recovery Oriented Community Collaborative (ROCC). ROCC continues to meet monthly, conducts inventory retreats (group conscious meetings), created a set of values to shape its culture and collaborates on various projects, including the Recovery Capitol Conference, Recovery in the Park, and YEARN. Members of ROCC have collectively pursued and won grant funding.
- Continuing Recovery Education Workshops (CREW) - Using an online learning management system, we provided peer leadership and recovery workforce development training. This training is now accessible through our Recovery Academy.
- Recovery Capital Conference - The Recovery Capital Conference brought together people in recovery, family members, and allies from diverse communities and organizations to create a strength-based framework of Recovery Capital through shared learning and community-building activities. (Brochure or website)
- UNIFY Texas - Phase 1 of an 18-month advocacy campaign aimed at mobilizing the recovery community to more effectively participate in the 85th Texas Legislator. We hosted local UNIFY Texas training that focused on community building, messaging and action planning. These training can be found in our Recovery Academy.
- ABCs of Advocacy - Phase 2 of the 18-month advocacy campaign. RecoveryPeople cohosted Recovery Day at the Capitol along with the Association of Substance Abuse Programs (ASAP), the Texas Association of Addiction Professionals (TAAP). This daylong training educated and oriented peers to the basis of advocacy: how a bill is passed, representative engagement best practices, and more. These training can be found in our Recovery Academy.
- Recovery Day at the Capitol - The 3rd and final phase of advocacy campaign. During the Texas Legislative Session, RecoveryPeople cohosted Recovery Day at the Capitol along with the Association of Substance Abuse Programs (ASAP), the Texas Association of Addiction Professionals (TAAP). Participants were briefed on bills that would impact addiction prevention, treatment and/or recovery before they divide in groups to visit their respective Representatives and Senators.
In partnership with the Texas Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health (TXFFCMH), RecoveryPeople won and served as the fiscal agent for three consecutive Statewide Peer Network Development Program for Recovery and Resiliency (SPN4R&R) grants awarded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Historically, SAMHSA funded three separate statewide network opportunities: statewide family mental health networks, statewide mental health consumer networks, and the statewide recovery community networks. In 2014, SAMHSA introduced the Recovery and Resiliency funding opportunity to support greater collaboration across statewide networks and empower the voice of lived experience in program and policy development. Before SAMHSA discontinued this funding opportunity in 2017, the Texans for Recovery and Resiliency (TRR) program accomplish a great deal:
TRR 2014-15
- The State of Texas: History of Youth Recovery Support Services - Because the mental health and substance use systems as well as the child, adolescent and adult systems are siloed, a history and literature review of mental health and substance use services for youth, young adults and families in Texas was written to gain a common understanding of the broader landscape and each other’s language. Due to time constraints, we limited the scope to youth and where the partner networks most likely overlapped. (Google docs draft)
- Texas Talks Back - To build upon the historical perspective, we conducted a needs assessment by soliciting input from youth and families with lived experience. To broadly reach across the State, we developed and deployed an online survey. To gain an even deeper understanding, we hosted X local listen session / town hall style meetings. The results were published online and presented at the Recovery Capital Conference.
- Advisory Committee - To ensure a participatory process, we recruited an Advisory Committee consisting of person with lived experience who represented various youth and family mental health and substance use recovery perspectives.
- Strategic Plan - Using the State of Texas information, Texas Talks Back results and input from the Advisory Committee, a strategic plan was developed, which was used to guide the following year’s proposal.
TRR 2015-16
- Directory of Peer/Family Trainings - Based on the previous year’s strategic planning, our focus for 2015-16 was workforce development. To prevent duplication and identify training gaps, we conducted a literature review and developed a directory of trainings that were available.
- Advisory Committee - Because the 2015-16 focus was on workforce development, we chose an Advisory Committee who also had experience in training and/or curriculum development as well as who represented various perspectives and communities.
- Strategic Planning - While the previous year’s strategic plan offered a general vision, staff needed specific direction to accomplish the 2015-16 objectives. To that end, Advisory Committee Members attended an in person planning meeting, where they identified workforce development priorities. The top ranked priorities in order were: 1) a peer/family supervisor training and certification; 2) education on how peer/family services are integrated in primary; and 3) acute care settings and trauma training.
- Peer/Family Supervisor Training and Certification - Based on the greatest workforce development need, as identified by the Advisory Committee, we developed a Supervisor training and certification program. We trained 21 individuals as Supervisors and Trainers of Supervisors (ToS). To be eligible for the training and ToS, individuals must have had experience as a Recovery Coach, Peer Specialist, Family Partner or similar peer/family workforce role. In turn, 5 of the ToS conducted supervisor trainings across Texas. We also provided an virtual Community of Practice for the Supervisors on an ongoing basis.
- Peer Recovery & Family Support in Optimizing Integrated Health Outcomes - At the direction of our Advisory Committee, we developed a youtube video series that educates audiences on where and why peer and family support services are being used in Acute Care, Hospital and EAP settings. First, we identified 25+ key informants within the target settings. Informants completed an online survey, which was followed by phone interviews using a semi-structured interviewing process. The results were summarized in an 8 part video series, which was posed on YouTube and distributed across social media channels. As a result, we were asked to present findings at the Texas Hospital Association meeting.
TRR 2016-17
- Trauma Training Stakeholder Survey - The need for a trauma training was identified by our Advisory Committee in the previous year’s strategic plan, so it became a focus of 2016-17 activities. To gain a better understanding of what trainings existed and/or were being developed, we interviewed key stakeholders. The findings identified three trauma training needs, which were presented to at the Recovery and Resiliency Retreat.
- Recovery and Resiliency Retreat - We held our first Recovery and Resiliency Retreat at Peaceable Kingdom, where participants, all with lived experience, enjoyed hiking, singing by the campfire and watching a movie in a theatre nestled in the wilderness. The feedback was overwhelming positive and participants enjoyed the camp setting away from technology.
- Advisory Committee - At the Retreat, “campers” attended several sessions, including one that prioritized the trauma training needs based on the finding discussed above.
- Trauma Training - At the direction of our Advisory Committee, we developed and delivered a Trauma Training that focused on empower consumer choices by educating them on the various types of trauma treatments that are available.