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Home > Celebrate > Rally for Recovery 2005 > About The Walk
RECOVERY WALK
2005
Steve Ford recalled that when he was in early recovery, he heard,
and heeded, the advice of an old-timer, who told him to absorb what
those in recovery for decades had to say. Ford did exactly that and,
unlike the faces of 30-day sobriety who are featured on the cover
of People Magazine, waited until his sixth year in recovery before
speaking publicly about it. The journey of recovery, Ford observed,
takes a lifetime.
His mother, Betty Ford, began her recovery in journey 25 years ago.
She has done a great deal to assist others to overcome addiction,
not the least being her willingness to offer herself as an example
that addiction’s reach can extend even into the White House.
But it has become increasingly difficult to pay for treatment at
the California clinic that bears her name. That, Ford said, is because
insurers in his home state, like those in New Jersey and across the
country, restrict the amount and type of care they will approve.
Friends
Member Dory Rachel
Richard
Kopanda, deputy director of the
Center of Substance Abuse Treatment
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The need for insurers to cover appropriate care for addiction
figured prominently in the spoken-word performance that preceded
Ford and the other speakers. The title of the work, “Re-Cover-Me,”
refers in part to the need for health insurers to ‘recover’
health policies for people who need treatment for an alcohol
or drug addiction. The performance was commissioned by the National
Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence-New Jersey and portrays
elements from the council’s recently released report on
addiction discrimination. In addition to health care, “Re-Cover-Me”
and the document on which it is based examine challenges in
education, employment and housing that confront recovering individuals. |
While Ford was perhaps the main attraction – albeit
a modest one - on a day that had many highlights, Davy’s recounting
of his father’s problems with alcohol seemed to capture the
true spirit of the Recovery Walk. Davy, head of the state government’s
largest department, stood on the stage isolated and laid bare the
difficult period in his upbringing when his father receded from their
family as he came home from work to drink “himself into oblivion.”
Davy’s father, prompted by the approaching birth of a grand child, stopped
drinking and spent his final 15 years in recovery. Davy said that it was by no
means easy for his father to find his way out of addiction, just as he knew it
was not easy for many in the audience going through that experience. He closed
by encouraging the crowd not to wait for the approach of death, as he and his
father had, to acknowledge the relationships they held most dear.
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One in the large crowd was Samuel Roberson, who was
among the 30 staff member from the Lennard Clinic in Newark to attend. Roberson
described the event as a “true coming together of the addiction community.
Every stakeholder you could imagine was there.” He noted that it also served
to address the stigma that still accompanies people long after they have discontinue
their drinking or drug use. Roberson said that one of Lennard’s clients
embraced the Walk as an opportunity to be with other recovering people.
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Two of the 2,500 in attendance said Ford’s
presence demonstrated that addiction can befall anyone, regardless of the
advantage or disadvantages one is born into. Ibn Aziz, of Jersey City, said
that “it’s good to see that the recovery process doesn’t
apply to just the poor, that it affects the rich as well.” Another
Jersey City resident, Chaz Epps, described addiction as “an equal
opportunity destroyer.” |
FOAR-NJ member Jean Laird (right) echoed Ford’s words
about being grateful for the difficulties that ultimately
brought her to recovery. Laird stated that “we have
flourished into a recognizable fact: Recovery Happens
Every Day.”
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Recovery Walk 2004
Recovery
Walk 2003
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walk overview>> | <<keynote>>
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