Can We Listen to the Next Generation?
community, connection, and celebration this International Women's Day
What are you doing for International Women’s Day this year?
SHE RECOVERS® Foundation is presenting Rising Rooted: Redefining Recovery With The Next Generation.
This free International Women’s Day event is packed with recovery change makers and thought leaders. It will amplify youth voices, explore resilience and purpose in recovery, highlight organizations supporting young women’s mental health on a global scale, and provide an opportunity for community, connection, and celebration!
Register here >>> sherecovers.org/international-womens-day-2024/
If you are unable to attend this online experience on International Women’s Day - a recording will be provided to all who register.
Join yours truly as I guide us through critical dialogue and inspirational stories of recovery with the next generation.
This year, we welcome:
Alexis Irias of Young People in Recovery—a national nonprofit that provides peer recovery support services for youth in recovery. YPR embraces all pathways to recovery including 12-step, faith-based, harm reduction, medication-assisted treatment, etc., and empowers youth to get involved in their communities and take charge of their futures.
Ashley Riley Miller of SHE RECOVERS: The Next Generation Youth Action Committee & Shatterproof. Ashley is the Program Coordinator for UNSHAME Kentucky with the National Stigma Initiative at Shatterproof and is an advocate for young adults in recovery and the LGBTQ+ community.
Armani Balderas is representing Rise Recovery which help teens, young adults, and families overcome the effects of substance use, and partners with the community in education and prevention. After years of being unhoused and incarcerated, Armani made the life-saving decision to embrace recovery where she found strength and a new sense of purpose.
Cassandra James Weathersby, the founder of Black Women DO Heal, is dedicated to providing safe healing spaces, respite, and mental health support for Black and Brown women. Cassandra is a recovery life Coach and an advocate for mental wellness and women’s emotional healing
Catherine Holovnia of PEASE Academy. PEASE stands for Peers Enjoying A Sober Education and is an abstinence-based educational setting where students can work towards earning their diplomas. Catherine has been working with PEASE since 2017 and is currently working on getting her bachelor's degree in social work.
Dominiquie Clemmon-James of the Association of Recovery in Higher Education holds a PhD in rehabilitation counseling and administration. She is a clinical mental health and rehabilitation counselor and a clinical addictions specialist and supervisor. As a recovery advocate, she prides herself on bringing awareness to BIPOC issues within the field.
Dona Dmitriovic of SAMHSA is currently serving as the senior advisor in the Office of Recovery at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She supports recovery initiatives across the agency. She has led federal efforts to improve the nation’s behavioral health. Dona has lived experience of long-term recovery and having loved ones in recovery.
Karly Behymer of Young People in Recovery shares her passion for yoga with the San Diego chapter. She is a professional yoga teacher, and practitioner of yoga for more than twelve years, and is a person in long-term recovery.
Keithy Arabella Crespo is representing The Phoenix, a nonprofit that provides free activities and events (from fitness classes to holiday parties) for anyone with a continuous 48 hours of sobriety. Keithy helps produce events and experiences for people that are fun, supportive, and memorable. She looks forward to helping more people, one game night and CrossFit class at a time.
Lucy Getschow, of PEASE Academy, is a full-time student with dual enrollment at a local community college. PEASE is dedicated to helping teens maintain long-term sobriety and recovery and complete high school. They provide extra support through staff who are also in recovery, a licensed counselor, and other recovery opportunities.
Meghann Perry of the Meghann Perry Group, is an award-winning storyteller, theater educator, curriculum designer, and addiction recovery coach professional. She integrated theater practices into youth residential treatment services for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and has worked extensively with young adults in prevention, treatment, and recovery.
Meg Korf-Morales of the SHE RECOVERS: The Next Generation Youth Action Committee, a service and leadership development body of recovering young women and non-binary individuals (between the ages of 18-35) who identify with women’s communities. This diverse and talented group plays an essential role in shaping the future of SR programs and resources.
Mulka Nisic, doctoral student and researcher, is a consultant for UNGASS, World Federation Against Drugs, and the European Network for Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery as well as Celebrate Recovery. Her research and work revolves around recovery pathways, stigma attached to addiction, building communities, recovery cities, and recovery capital.
Natalie DeLaCruz is a college student, advocate, activist, and the Herren Project’s Youth Engagement Specialist—an organization that provides resources and support for the treatment, recovery, and prevention of SUD. Natalie struggled with mental health and SUD at twelve and hopes to break the stigma and connect marginalized communities to recovery resources.
Nia Patterson of the Say It Brave Collective, Eating Recovery Center. Nia is a Black and queer mental health advocate, social activist, artist, content creator, podcaster, and business and body image coach. Their work largely centers around eating disorder recovery, body liberation, fat activism, LGBTQIA2S+, and body acceptance work.
Nitya Sivakumar is the co-owner of HEAL Behavioral Health and is currently completing a Master's program in industrial organizational psychology. Her interest in trauma treatment and the recovery industry stemmed from her own experience with mental health issues and addiction. Nitya speaks regularly in high schools, to parent and community organizations.
Paloma Sifuentes, representing Rise Recovery, is a woman with four years of recovery. She is a mother of two and a performing artist. Paloma was once a client of Rise Recovery—at the beginning of her recovery journey—and she is incredibly grateful to be able to give back to others what was so very graciously given to her.
Sheilah Powell, of New Jersey Harm Reduction Coalition, is a communications expert and a recovery support leader whose work is informed by her lived experience as a person in recovery. The NJHRC is working to create a NJ that values the safety and dignity of all people who use substances and to make harm reduction public health resources available to everyone.
Victoria Burns of the University of Calgary is an associate professor and founder/director of the UCalgary Recovery Community and Recovery on Campus Alberta, she is a registered social worker, researcher, and activist. Victoria combined her lived experience with participatory methodologies to smash stigma for marginalized people in scholarly and mainstream spaces.
Join us for this thought-provoking discourse around what it means to support the next generation of women to rise rooted in recovery.
Rise with us on March 8, 2024.
Register here >>> sherecovers.org/international-womens-day-2024/
If you are unable to attend this online experience on International Women’s Day - a recording will be provided to all who register.
Here is a quick video of me talking about the event.
People from around the world join together every year on International Women’s Day to celebrate and support recovery. This year we will be focusing on RISING ROOTED: REDEFINING RECOVERY WITH THE NEXT GENERATION.
Can’t make the time? No problem! Register to get your free link to watch on demand anytime—and stay tuned to learn how you can host a WATCH PARTY with your recovery people.
Rise with us on March 8, 2024.
This International Women’s Day, join us and the change-makers of today to explore how we can ensure the next and future generations rise rooted in recovery!
We need to listen to the next generation.
Young women are telling us that what they need most is identity-based resources, professionals who understand the imperative of finding and following their own individualized pathways and patchworks of recovery, and peer-supported opportunities for connection.
We need to start supporting the next generation now.
We know that ease of access to resources and support substantially increases the next generation’s chance of realizing long-term recovery. U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy says, “given the significant health consequences of loneliness and isolation, we must prioritize building social connection the same way we have prioritized other critical public health issues such as tobacco and substance use.”
In the spirit of redefining recovery, we gather on March 8, 2024, to acknowledge our past, examine our present, and inspire infinite possibilities for the future of women’s recovery support. Young women know what they want, together we can create systems of care that enable us all to rise rooted in recovery.
