THE LATEST: I am honored to have been hired as the new RICARES' Liaison at the Anchor Recovery Center on 249 Main St. in Pawtucket. Please check out the RICARES web site at www.ricares.org or check their profile page on Facebook for more information or stop by Anchor or call me at 401-721-5100 to find out about the recovery-based activities offered.
I'm graduating 5/21/11 with a BA in Political Science and certificate in Nonprofit Studies---and minor in jazz studies! I'm happy I'm able to use my political science studies in my new job...see info below about RICARES' 12th Annual Legislative Day that just happened on 4/26/11 by clicking here.
© 2011, all rights reserved
Greetings! I've been blessed with long-term recovery from the disease of drug addiction since April 13, 2004! This has motivated me to examine my priorities and focus on what's truly important: family, friends, advocating for the rights of us all to have equal access to medical, counseling and educational services, and of course, music and the arts! This has led to some major changes in my life. Two of these are going back to school to study politics and law and creating this web site. I am hoping to become more knowledgeable on what our legal rights really are, how to access them, and how to speak out and affect change in the areas of law that are not adequate to meet our needs. This site is a place to share information on these and related subjects with those of you who already are or are yet to come into my life. I've included links to web sites where you can learn more on these subjects. I've color-coded them by category for convenience as follows: Addictions Recovery, Teens and Parents, Mental Health, Co-Dependency, Health, Education, Government, Advocacy, Legal, Civil & Human Rights, Employment Services, and Arts and Community. Any links to fee-for-services are providers that offer considerations for lower-income individuals, families, and non-profits. I hope you will join me in putting a face and voice on recovery. Our disease is still discriminated against, as many of you experience on a daily basis. Alcoholics and addicts don't receive equal treatment from health insurance companies regarding coverage and availability of treatment (parity), and are not treated fairly in the legal system as long as addiction is treated like a crime instead of the brain disease it really is. It is understood that we need to recover anonymously in our treatment or fellowship programs of choice. However, once we have stabilized, I believe it is our duty to first educate ourselves on how our system of government works and then do our part in changing laws and policies that negatively affect our addictions recovery community and others. Please tell your stories to our representatives and get involved. Everyone needs to know that "once an addict, always an addict" is a lie and that thousands of us are in long-term recovery! I have been privileged to serve as a member of the nonprofit organization RICARES (RI Communities for Addiction Recovery Efforts), our local addictions recovery advocacy group, since 2005 and am presently their staff person at the Anchor Recovery Community Center in Pawtucket. Our website is www.ricares.org & you can call us at 401-521-5759, ext. 14 to get peer support services or get involved in assisting others. (Or call me directly at Anchor Recovery Community Center at 401-721-5100.) RICARES makes ongoing opportunities available for all of us to learn how to advocate for ourselves and our community. No matter where you are at in your path of recovery, please know that outside the rooms of your fellowships, there is a community of support ready to assist you to do whatever you want to do with your new life. We have friends that want to see us succeed! Let's not complain about the problems if we are not trying to be part of the solution! If you like this site, please tell others about it. I look forward to getting your feedback, which you can submit to me directly from the "feedback" link on this site. Remember:
"ALONE I CAN'T, TOGETHER WE CAN!"
MEMBERS OF 12-STEP FELLOWSHIPS PLEASE TAKE NOTE:
OUR CONGRESSMEN & SENATORS WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
In 2005, I was present when Congressman Patrick Kennedy spoke at the closing ceremony of The Faces & Voices of Recovery's "Recovery Rising!" Summit and praised the recovery going on anonymously in the rooms of the 12-step fellowships, as did our other legislatures with whom we met! Congressman Kennedy said that the disease of addiction has touched his family personally, and he is aware of our spiritual principals and traditions of anonymity. He encouraged members of our fellowships to continue in personal recovery in private, and then individually get involved in the community as each feels able. This will show law makers, the insurance companies, and others that long-term recovery is possible and that many are productive members of society! This can be done in private conversations with friends and family members, community service and advocacy work (as individuals in recovery, not mentioning our fellowships), or at the very least by contacting our Senators and Congressmen. They need to know we care about the issues that affect our lives. He said that if half of the people in recovery contacted their legislators as those have who have breast cancer, our RI Delegation would have no problem getting these important bills passed on our behalf! Let's flood their mailboxes, voicemails, and e-mail boxes with our wants and concerns. If they feel they won't get your vote if they don't support us, we can make such a difference!
Faces and Voices of Recovery has a great booklet called Advocacy with Anonymity!
Download a copy here: HTTP PDF
THEN TO CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS CLICK ON THEIR NAME BELOW TO GO TO THEIR WEB SITE
 Congressman Jim Langevin |
  Senator Jack Reed |
 Senator Sheldon Whitehouse |
 Congressman David Cicilline |
NEED HELP KNOWING WHAT TO SAY? GO TO: A CALL TO ACTION
RHODE ISLAND COMMUNITIES FOR ADDICTIONS RECOVERY
RICARES' 12th
Annual Legislative Day on Tuesday, April 26th, 2-4 PM was a great
success!
We delivered 114 letters of support to the Senate and 111 letters to the
House for the "Ban the Box" bill.
Our Theme was "Recovery Voices Count"
Bills we are supporting this year:
1. H 5101 & S 0224: “Ban the Box” legislation, the first for hiring only
and the 2nd for hiring and licensing.
2. H 5650 & S 0630: “The Good Samaritan Overdose Prevention Overdose
Prevention Act.”
3. S 0350 & H 5645: An act intended to expand the existing Drug Court so
it can handle more cases.
4. S 0439 & H 6055: An act to establish recovery high schools
5. S 0161, S 0216 & S 0244: Bills related to certificates of recovery
and expungement of felonies & misdemeanors.
You can still sign and mail letters of support for both the House and Senate versions of this bill (addresses on letters). Click on the links below to download them:
House version / Senate version
RICARES' Board member Paul Lavallee in left picture above, bottom left, and in right picture on bottom right (RICARES' Board Chair Carrie Blake sitting next to him)
RICARES' Director Ian Knowles in white shirt & grey tie in right picture above; Board member Felicia Delgado sitting in front of Ian
In the pictures of the crowd above, members were holding signs our intern Katherin Champagne made!
(Katherin pictured on left above and our intern Cheryl Murray pictured on the right)
Luis Estrada, Master of Ceremony
Carrie Blake, RICARES' Board Chair, Words of Welcome
Word of Welcome from Craig Stenning, Director of RI Dept. of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals (BHDDH)
Our Keynote Speaker, Jessica Gianfrocco, a mother in recovery's story
Senator John J. Tassoni, Jr. spoke to us about his Senate Bill No. 439, an act to establish Recovery High Schools
We awarded Kathleen Carty, PhD, the founder of Vantage Point in West Warwick, our "Advocate of the Year" award.
We awarded Representative Patricia A. Serpa, D-District 27 (Coventry, Warwick, West Warwick), our "RI Legislator of the Year" award.
After our ceremony, our Board and some members attended the day's session of the House and Senate where Representative Slater and Senator Metts were presented with over 100 letters of support from our members regarding the "Ban the Box" legislation they are sponsoring on behalf of the recovery community (H 5101 & S 0224).
A Few Other members caught in the crowd:
1. Ben with his own "Ban the Box" sign!
2. Eye Surgery Couldn't Keep Jim Gillen Away! (Tom Coderre also back, left)
3. Steve Gumbley couldn't hide either!
AND, our favorite volunteer George decided to model some of Katherin's signs:
George got me to hold one with him!
"Are you a registered voter? Why not? "
If you are do you know who your local and national lawmakers are? It's how things get done and nothing gets the attention like a registered voter!
GO TO "A CALL TO ACTION" BELOW TO EITHER REGISTER TO VOTE OR TO FIND YOU LOCAL & NATIONAL LAWMAKERS...
Watch for e-mails from RICAREs, or me, or from our national advocacy organization Faces & Voices of Recovery to find out about events and/or ways you can make your voice heard to make a difference where it counts!
Anchor
Recovery Community Center
For serving more than 4,000 Rhode Islanders a month!
Peer-to-Peer Support Services
249 Main Street
Pawtucket, RI 02860
401-721-5100
info@anchorrecovery.org
For putting a face and voice on the RI Addictions-Recovery Community for over 12 years and for having another successful Legislative Day (12th annual) on April 26th, 2011!
GREG ABATE (INTERNATIONAL JAZZ REED PLAYER EXTRAORDINAIRE & MY FORMER JAZZ THEORY PROFESSOR)
SHAWNN MONTEIRO (INTERNATIONAL JAZZ PERFORMER EXTRAORDINAIRE & MY FORMER JAZZ VOCALS PROFESSOR!)
AN IMPORTANT RECOVERY ARTICLE: BRAIN CHEMISTRY TRUMPS WILLPOWER
Latest Jessie, Zach & Katie Pictures:
Katie dressed up for Thanksgiving
The many faces of my beautiful daughter!
Jess & Zach Jess, Katie & Zach Zach Skating
Too Cute for Words!
Katie on her 1st Birthday with her new Shopping Cart...
Outside and Out and About is Where Katie Would Rather Be!
"The Apple of My Eye!" & "Happiness is a Saturday Afternoon Visiting with Katie & Jess on Skype!"
My Daughter
(by Jessie Stewart on Saturday, October 16, 2010 at 12:15pm)
I knew I would have you long before you were conceived.
I knew I loved you before I held you.
I knew I would cherish you before I saw you.
I knew I would change my life in anyway I needed to accommodate you,
to keep you safe from harm,
I would protect you and give you warmth in the embrace of my arm.
A Mother is to teach her child,
to love her child,
to nurture and engage her child.
What caught me by surprise was the innocence in your eyes,
the way you make my heart beat,
the joyful tears you make me weep.
It takes my breath away,
that I love you more and more each day.
I knew I would help shape and mold you,
into the woman,
that some day you will become.
But, I wasn't counting on the woman I would become,
to get all these things done.
I didn't foresee all the changes you would make in me.
I could never have known all the love and warmth that you would show
to me.
The changes that I have made for you,
have made my life so much better too.
The sacrifices that I make,
the precious moments that we spend,
all our time together,
in the end,
Daughter,
it is me that you have made that much better.
You show me everyday,
who I want to be,
a more patient, caring, loving, gentle person,
more sensitive to the needs of others.
When you smile at a random person,
and they smile back,
I know it is love that the world can't lack.
Daughter,
it is you, who broke the mold,
made me stronger,
encouraged me to do better.
It is you who,
inspired me.
You have made me ask myself,
time and time again,
If tomorrow it all should end,
would I regret the choices of this day?
Because of you,
I am less concerned with where I'll get,
and more concerned with where I'm at.
I know you are watching my every step,
you want to do all the things I do.
I hope you know,
my sweet little girl,
that I also want to be more like you!!
I live my life today,
in hope that I do right by you.
I hope that when you grow up big and tall,
you benefit by all the choices that I have made.
I hope you turn out strong and independent,
loving, firm, and undeterred from your goals and dreams,
a free spirit, full of love and compassion,
grounded in reality with dreams in the clouds,
always willing to help those who will help themselves,
and knowing when to tow the line.
Above all my darling daughter,
I hope you are happy and fulfilled,
and that you find meaning and joy in whatever you do.
Because, it is all these things you have inspired me to do,
in hopes that I may pass them along to you!
Katie with her Mom at 1 Month Old
Grandpa Bill & Katie
Katie & Jess:
Memorial Day Weekend 2010:
My friend Angela came to meet my kids & grandkids!
I finished my jazz studies at RI College, and although I don't take lessons with her anymore, I will forever be indebted to my former Professor Shawnn Monteiro (website), who is internationally known and amazing! I am very impressed with the level of professionalism that the RI College music faculty manifests. With talents like Shawnn, Greg Abate (website) and others, music students at RI College have wonderful opportunities to learn from the "real deals" in music! I've been saying that Shawnn's the real deal all along and it seems the world agrees! Here's a quote from "The Garlic Blog" on Google:
"If you never had the opportunity to catch Ella, Sarah, Carmen McRae, Betty Carter, et all, than you should make all effort to indulge in their torch-carrier, vocalist Shawnn Monteiro."
pictures of Shawnn
(picture on left is Shawnn with her godfather Clark Terry)
Visit Shawnn's
website.
You can purchase Shawnn's CDs on
Amazon or
CD Universe
My Former Professor Greg Abate performing with Mac Chrupcala on piano and Alan Bernstein on bass at Chan's in Woonsocket, RI: Greg's website
Me performing in "An Adult Song and Dance Revue" at RI College on May 18, 2007, accompanied by the Ron Bianchi Trio:
To see a video clip of my singing from the DVD of the May 18th show mentioned above or to listen to audio clips click HERE.
Favorite Links:Some Sites that Focus on Information & Resources for Addictions Recovery, Teens and Parents, Mental Health, Co-Dependency, Health, Education, Government, Advocacy, Legal, Civil & Human Rights, Employment Services, and Arts and Community: *Please share your favorites to add!
Brain Chemicals Trump Willpower in Addicts, NIDA Director Says
News Summary (click on Associated Press link below to read whole article) Understanding brain chemistry, not building up willpower, is the key to preventing adolescent alcohol and other drug addiction, according to Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA). The Associated Press reported April 3 that Volkow said that adolescent brains are still developing and react differently to drugs than those of adults. Volkow, a researcher with a long history of exploring the brain circuitry involved in addiction, has been shifting some of NIDA's research efforts toward examining how the brains of adolescents and people who don't become addicted to alcohol or other drugs differ from the brains of those who do develop drug problems. "What is it that makes a person more vulnerable to take drugs or not?" said Volkow. "Now we have Nora's picture rather than a picture of fried eggs," said Joanna Fowler, a former colleague of Volkow's at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. "We can go beyond that knee-jerk picture of a brain to a real brain ... If you can conceptualize (addiction) as a brain disease rather than a moral weakness or lack of willpower, you can more easily bring resources to bear." Former NIDA head Alan Leshner said Volkow has promoted the idea that addiction "has to be seen as a health issue as well as a criminal or social-justice issue. She has definitely moved neuroscience forward." Volkow said she always has been fascinated in the brain and issues of free will. She noted that the brain is not fully matured until the early 20s, with the frontal cortex -- the brain's cognitive and reasoning center -- the last to be finished. Thus, for teens, "to stand up and say 'I'm not going to do it' is much harder than (for) an adult," Volkow said. Brain immaturity may also explain teen risk-taking and why scare tactics can backfire in drug prevention. "It is that notion of 'I dare you,'" she said. "It may be appealing to an adolescent because they are seeking for danger in many instances."
LDN: (Low Dose Naltrexone) I've been on LDN for over a year and it has helped my MS considerably. I've especially noticed the 'wrapped in cellophane' feeling I had in my hands and feet is almost gone, my sense of touch being much more acute. I stopped taking the LDN once after I had noticed improvement to see if it made the difference and my increased numbness and lack of feeling returned. I won't go a day without it now and I'm happy my neurologist was willing to prescribe it "off label." Don't forget it's usually compounded in a lactose base, so if you're lactose intolerant like I am, have your prescriber order it "lactose free." For more information, see this 13-page article and check with your own physician. (The link in the article to the petititionsite.com doesn't take you to the LDN link, which is here: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/110785607)
As a person living with MS, I have written & performed a song about the onset of my MS called "Fading Away." The Tsetse Gallery in Providence asked me to create a poster a couple of years ago that illustrates the song for an artists with MS exhibit I played some light jazz and a few of my originals for at the opening. Here's part of it: "Fading Away"
Rally 4 Recovery, 9/11/2010, Grand Finale, "I Can See Clearly Now"
"Recovery March" to Waterfire, Leslie & Bill Miller (Leslie in wheelchair holding Bill's hand) Both Pictures above
taken by Pat Cafaro
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Upcoming Events & Notices
NA Area Service Service Committee Meetings in RI: Free Spirit (Southern RI & Surrounding Communities) 3rd Sunday of the month St. Rita's Church, Oakland Beach Avenue, Warwick, RI Administrative: 3-3:30, Subcommittees: 3:30-4, ASC Mtg: 4-6
Greater Providence (Providence, Northern RI & Surrounding Communities) 4th Sunday of the month Anchor Recovery Community Center, 249 Main St, Pawtucket, RI Administrative: 12-1:30, Literature Sales: 1:30-3, Subcommittees: 2-3; ASC Mtg: 3:30--5:30, New GSR Orientation: 3:15-3:25
NA Meetings: NA Online Meetings List from NA.org NA Regional Service Committee Meetings, New England Region of NA: 2nd weekend of every other month on even numbered months, RSC Meeting at noon on Saturdays & Subcommittees meet at noon on Sundays-- Different locations throughout region: check web site for next location at New England Region of Narcotics Anonymous.
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)
The Red Road Recovery Meeting Traditional Native American Talking Circle of Recovery Mondays 7-8:30pm @ Dighton Indian Council Hall 1111 Somerset Ave (route 138), Dighton, Ma. 1-508-880-6887 All paths and cultures are welcome
ONGOING:
EVERY 2nd & 4th Wednesday, 7 PM Blues/Jazz Jam at Chan's 167 MAIN ST, WOONSOCKET, RI 401 765-1900
MAY:
May Recovery Events:
Peer-to-Peer Support Services
Click Here for Link to Anchor's May Calendar...
Saturday, May 14th, 12-4 PM RICARES' Lawyers Open Forum Anchor Recovery Community Center 249 Main St, Pawtucket, RI 02860 401-721-5100 Here's your chance for free legal advice! Please RSVP so we can get an idea of how many are coming: call Leslie Miller (me) at the Anchor at 401-721-5100 or e-mail me at work: lmiller2@provctr.org These are some of the areas that will be covered: Personal Injury, Veteran Affairs, DUI, Expungement, Post-Conviction Relief, Drug Offenses, Family Law, and Tenancy! Let's have a great showing to show our appreciation to them for volunteering their time to talk to us!
Friday, May 27th, 6:30-9:30 PM
Open Mike Recovery Cafe The Anchor Recovery Center, 249 Main St, Pawtucket, 401-721-5100:
The Recovery All Stars will host an open mic
jam.. bring an instrument, song, poem, story
etc...
Click here to send me your events to post...
CLICK HERE to: Contact Your Senators & Congressmen WITH YOUR RECOVERY STORIES...
THEY NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU SO THEY CAN GET SUPPORT FOR LEGISLATION THAT AFFECTS OUR RECOVERY COMMUNITY! IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE LONG! Here's a sample short story: CLICK HERE TO READ LESLIE'S & OTHERS' STORIES
ALSO, TELL OUR LAWMAKERS YOUR CONCERNS:
WHAT ELSE CONCERNS YOU? TELL ME & I'LL POST IT HERE...BETTER YET...TELL THEM! THEY WANT TO HEAR FROM US!
Victory! Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 signed into law On October 3, President Bush signed the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 into law as part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (HR 1424). The law will begin to end the insurance discrimination facing people with addiction and mental illness. The victory came after years of advocacy that picked up it pace over the last two years under the leadership of Representatives Jim Ramstad (R-MN) and Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) in the US House of Representatives. They were joined by the House and Senate leadership and Senators including Pete Domenici (R-NM), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Christopher Dodd (D-CT) in providing the Congressional leadership that led to final passage. Recovery advocates across the country were joined by David Wellstone, son of the late Senator Paul Wellstone in countless Call-in Days, email campaigns, visits with members of Congress at home and in Washington, DC and media outreach to tell the story of insurance discrimination. This victory would not have been possible without your tireless advocacy and the efforts of allied organizations across the country. What does this victory mean? When the law goes into effect on October 3, 2009, group health plans that offer coverage for addiction and mental illness will be required to provide benefits in the same way as they offer them for all other medical and surgical coverage. That means that they will no longer be able to impose different limits on inpatient days or outpatient visits or require higher deductibles or cost sharing when people are seeking treatment for addiction or mental illness than for other covered medical and surgical procedures. The victory also means that the voices of the organized recovery community and our allies were heard more than ever before in our nation’s capitol. Today, more people in Washington, DC and across the country know about the reality of recovery from addiction and that there is an organized constituency that is advocating on behalf of recovery. What will the law do? The law applies to all group health plans with 51 or more employees. It will cover 82 million individuals in self-insured employer health plans that are not governed by state parity laws and another 31 million in plans that are subject to state regulation.
Faces & Voices will be providing more information about the law in the coming months. If you’d like to read the law, click here. [link to the below]
For a more detailed summary, click HERE; Also see www.ricares.org/Parity.html
Click on the thumbs below to submit an opinion or viewpoint:
Thank you!
I'm sad David Segal didn't win the 1st District Congressional Primary Race. I'll support Democrat David Cicilline like I said above. However, I hope he'll become a real Progressive and work to reform campaign finance laws and really help more Rhode Islanders get back to work, as well as holding Wall Street accountable for the Bail Out, etc. As far as our Governor's Race, I'm a Democrat for Independent Lincoln Chafee. His opponents are making a big deal about his proposed tax on everyday items. Think about it, how often when we haven't wanted services cut for addiction treatment and other social and health services, have many of us testified at the House Finance Committee Hearings something to the effect of, 'Please don't cut services, tax me! What will it cost, $100 per person? I'll write you a check!'? ...The Providence Journal had a great article about this very subject. Click here to read it. I'm still standing by my decision and this opinion I wrote earlier this year. I wish more people would understand that someone has to pay for services we need somehow... I am trusting Chafee and voting for him...if we want services we have to pay for them, and this is better than raising property taxes...this way we all share the burden a little bit at a time and businesses and homeowners are not burdened with higher property taxes...
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This page was last updated 05/02/11
Site design & management: Leslie Miller
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