Teens' Photovoices Celebrate Recovery Month

It's not too late to add your voice in support of National Recovery Month 2013 and promote the benefits of prevention, treatment and recovery for mental and substance use disorders.
Forsyth County Reclaiming Futures is leading the way this September in Winston-Salem, N.C. with:

• A city proclamation, signed by Mayor Allen Joines,
• A free community event on September 28, with food, music, activities, and exhibits
• Wonderful photography through the lenses of teens in treatment.

I encourage you to visit Facebook to see the powerful images of teens' choices, their motivations for recovery and hopes for the future.

And...In case you're in the neighborhood, the artists and their photos will be showcased on September 28 at a free outdoor community event from 1-5 p.m. on the Reynolda campus of The Children's Home. You are invited to bring a lawn chair and spend the afternoon listening to great music, watching local youth performers and learning more about Recovery.
Please share your plans and ideas. What are you doing to help spread the positive message that behavioral health is essential to overall health, that prevention works, treatment is effective and people can and do recover? Share your comments below and at recoverymonth.gov.
Photos above courtesy of Reclaiming Futures Forsyth County.

Susan Richardson is national executive director for Reclaiming Futures. Formerly, she was a senior program officer in the health care division of the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust in North Carolina, where she led a three-year effort involving the state's juvenile justice and treatment leaders to adopt the Reclaiming Futures model by juvenile courts in six North Carolina counties. She received her B.S. in Public Health, Health Policy and Administration, from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.