Recovery Stories  &  Video tips

How did recovery start for you?

Were there some special people who was important to you, and why?

How has your life changed?

What are the big and little ways,.. recovery happens in your life?

If you are a peer support specialist:

What motivated you to become one?

How has being a peer helped your recovery?

Why did you “become” a peer support specialist?

If you were asked to join a team and given the task of building a website dedicated to recovery, what would you want to see on the site?

What recovery resources (or websites) would recommend to others?

Michigan Peers Reach Out 

On Aug. 6, Steve Harrington, CPSS, will be presenting a keynote address at the
Colorado state consumer conference in Denver. He and Zach Corcoran will also 
present a workshop entitled "Recovery Relationships" following the keynote. 
Zach has trained peer specialists in several states and has presented at many 
major mental health conferences. 

website

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The Recovery Academy in Grand Rapids, MI announces new website. recoveryacademy.net

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Yes, Include my name

Thank you Michael for the update.  You told us 2 weeks ago that it was nearly ready, and now it is.

We will feature the new site in the "News" section of the front page.

Satisfied With Services

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I am wondering just how many of us in the State of Michigan's
Mental Health Sevices Sysytem are so dissatisfied with the providers of our services that we often blame all most everything on the staff/professionals at the agency in which we receive our services? And for those that fall in that category...what are you doing to connect yourself to the person(s) that could help you to find your way onto the path of recovery?


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Joel, this is an interesting question.  It will be interested in seeing if people respond to your suggestion.  We know empowerment is a key component to recovery.

Subject
recovery story information

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Are you still accepting video recovery stories? Could you please send me the rules and guidelines for recovery stories?

Thanks, please get back to me.

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We are always looking for people's stories of recovery.

There are no real rules for recovery stories, but we suggest some guidelines for you to think about. Take the time to relax before you begin. Don't put pressure on yourself to remember everything you want to say. If you are doing a video story, try not to read from notes, but an occasional glance to remember something is fine because we will edit out that time. We will try to edit the piece to about 3 to 4 minutes, but the submission can be as long a you wish. Take the time you need to feel complete with the story. We will edit out any re-starts, pauses, or other material that distracts you from sharing. If the story is written, these suggestions will not apply and it will be as long as it is.

Expressing your emotion is O K. We know this will be a personal moment for you and nothing communicates to others like seeing someone experiencing a real, and deeply felt, emotion. This is the important stuff of a person's life and it should go to the essence of who you are, and who you have become. Hopes and dreams, too, are the stuff of life as is celebrating your achievements.

We will attempt to capture the essence of your journey, and the people and experiences that made a difference. Every journey is unique. How your recovery has made your life more meaningful to you, and any work you may have done that has enhanced and supported your continuing growth will be appreciated.

Good luck and have fun with this project. Be proud of yourself and proud of the hard work you have done to become who you are today.

The final production story (DVD) will be sent to you for your approval before we will place it on the Internet. It can also be removed at any time you request it.

Thank you for your submission.  Because you are in the Detroit area and don't have transportation,

your choices are limited.  We do hear of opportunities from time to time and will pass your name on

to anyone who may be interested.   I do know that Detroit Central City CMH uses volunteers and may

be close to you.  Good luck.

It has come to my attention that the contact information for Peer Choices, Inc. may need to be updated. The following is our current contact information:

Peer Choices, Inc.
1105 N. Telegraph Rd., Ste 300
Waterford, MI 48328

Phone: 248-451-5350

Fax: 248-451-5354

Please use this updated address and phone numbers. Please direct all interested persons to the main office line.

Thank you.

Thank you for this update.  It is being processed now

In Michigan, the training is arranged by the county CMH with the assistance of the Peer Support Liaison. Contact your customer service representative at the CMH for the details.

your video has been sent to the web master to be uploaded on line.  You will see it soon.  You did a geat job and we can't wait to share it with everyone who views it.

Thank you fo contibuting to the site and the inspiration you will be to others.

V A transformation activities in Iron Mountian

Thank you, Karen, for responding to our request for information to follow up on our visit in May. Your list of identified recovery transformation initiatives was both impressive and creative. Your focus on people and system reform indicates the broad approach your facility ( Oscar G. Johnson Veterans Administration Medical Center in Iron Mountain, Mi) has undertaken to move forward into the future of human service delivery.

Thanks Kathleen, for your continued support MRCE.   We are pleased to publish your updated

LGBT resource list.   We too, hope someone will pick up the cause and carry the list forward. 

We miss you in Michigan and wish you well with this new chapter in your life. 

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Open House

Lighthouse 3rd Annual Open House  Another successful year at the Lighthouse…

Please join us at Lighthouse Drop In Center for an Open House, on Wednesday May 26th, from 9am until 3pm. Tour the facility, have some light refreshments. Please be ready to share your thoughts and ideas and the pleasure of your company with us. Visitors can also register for a prize drawing!

The Lighthouse Board and Staff

Address: 300 Meadow Run Dr. Suite F Hastings, MI 49058
Past Secretary of State on left heading south on M-37/Hanover




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Thank you Ashley, for shareing this event with everyone.   It is our hope that more people would share their events and activities with us,  so we can inform the stake holders state-wide about their community events.

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Visit


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Stephen and Latia, Thank you for your visit to Escanaba.  Heidi and I both enjoyed your visit and all the information and ideas you gave us.  We are already putting them to use.  Thanks again. - Dave


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Thank you ,Dave. 

It is always a pleasure to meet and talk with people like your self who are committed to Recovery transformation, and the lives of the people we serve.

peer support specialist certification


Could you please send me information regarding classes and certification for peer specialist work in kalamazoo michigan


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Information on Peer Trainings and local classes are handled by the local Peer Liaison.  In your area it is:   

Sean Harris

Recovery Institute

326 West Kalamazoo Avenue, Suite 312

Kalamazoo, MI 49007

Phone: (269) 343-6725

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peer support shirts


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Last year at the peer support convention in Dearborn, they had peer support t-shirts I bought one but would like about 2 or 3 more if i could. Thank you for any information you can get for me.


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Those shirts were sold by the people at JIMHO (Justice in Mental Health Organizations). They did leave with unsold shirts, but I do not know how many may be left. JIMHO can be contacted at 517-371-2221.

Good Luck

Per conversation with MI Recovery

Thank you for inviting me to the MI Recovery website. I would like to pass on this information, I (Gregory T. Irish) am a facilitator for NAMI Connection, and our meetings are held weekly at 1:00-3:00 PM on Fridays at Kandu Island Drop-In Center. We are located at 3003b Garfield Rd., Traverse City, MI 49686. Again it was a pleasure to speak with MI Recovery.


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Thank you Gregory, for telling us about your meeting in Traverse City. The events calendar is for any Recovery event being held in Michigan.

Thanks again for your interest.

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Michigan Peer Specialist United

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Hi: Has anyone at your organization heard of this group, and if so, can you tell me a little more about it?

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Michigan Peer Specialists United is a statewide group of certified peers who are forming a Non-Profit organization whose purpose is to promote recovery education, advocacy, anti stigma and hope. The group has a steering committee driving this development and planning future activities.

One current project is to build a data base of Certified Peers in Michigan.

If peers want to be added to this list, they can contact the group at MiPeers@comcast.net.

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DRA Michigan


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The e-mail address listed is incorrect. Address must be all lower case letters. Thank you for putting the link on you site.


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Thank you, Kris, for your input. We have corrected the E-mail address.

DRA (Dual Recovery Anonymous) can be found under the resources tab by clicking on Search By Topic, and then scrolling down to Co-Occurring Disorders.

Peer Support Certification Training

Not yet been released for FY 09-10

Thank you from all of us here.

Hi.

Just wanted to let everyone know that, yes, The Supported Education Program, Detroit - Metro Detroit is indeed closing its doors on 1 Oct 09, and would like to say thank you to all the wonderful folks of Michigan Dept. of Community Health and Michigan Association of Community Mental Health for all the help you all have given us all over these years.

Thank you.

Have a beautiful season and a wonderful up-coming year !
Thank you.

Again, your welcome.  your work will be missed.

Copy of REE I would like to find a copy of the latest REE, the one that MIDCH is implementing as a tool to measure recovery outcomes. I would appreciate your assistance. Thank you very much,

You are correct about the REE being administered but it will be used as a quality improvement tool, not to measure outcomes. It will be administered at every CMH in the state to collect information from consumers. They will be asked to assess their experience of recovery based services from their providers. This is a real opportunity for consumers to be empowered and have a direct influence on shaping the services available to them in the future. The MDCH has put it's priority on implementing “Recovery” in the system of care, into action.

This survey will contribute to defining the future of mental health services in the state of Michigan.

The version that will be used is copyrighted.  Please contact MDCH for the assistance you have requested

Thanks for putting us on your calendar

Hey--we Yoopers appreciate the UP conference being on your website.

Hey --by the way --the print on the header of the website to find HOME is very small and I had to really search to find it. You might want to put it in your horizontal menu bar under your heading.

 

Lucy, It our pleasure to share any event that is forwarded for us to post.

As for the print size, we will explore a solution.

Thank you for your feedback.

NAMI Walk

Message/Suggestion Stephen, I can't attach the flyer here so I sent it to you separately.

Received and posted on Calendar

Peer Support conference
Great workshop - great site! Glad to be a part of it!

Thanks to the Michigan Association of Mental Health Boards and the Michigan Dept. of Mental health who made it happen.

This is such a Great Site! Just wanted to say thank you all for the incredible job your doing... I'm in Oregon now... but am so proud of the innovative way Michigan has opened their arms to peers and now I really know that it's not like that everywhere and have had a new perspective on just how lucky we are as peers in Michigan. thank you so much for all of your hard work at Michigan Recovery Center of Excellence. May God richly bless each of you, Always, Deb Parker

Thank you Deb for your kind words.  We will miss you and your gifts to people

Thank you for such a great conference in Dearborn Mich.

Wow! Attended the Peer Conference in Dearborn
22 - 24 June
And it was awesome and wonderful ! Met some great brother military veterans, my brothers in arms (us vets ) and other peers as well.
Learned a lot , very informative, and had a good time !

Thank you to all involved.

Thank you Chris for your comments. The real credit goes to the Michigan Dept. Community

Health staff who pulled the topics together and lined up the speakers, and the Michigan Association of Community Mental health Boards who made all the arrangements and hosted the event.

This is a lot of work, and these remarkable people do it every day, month after month, without much recognition from most of us.

Peer employment

I am interested in how your program works in finding jobs for consumers.
We may be interested in hiring peers for our program.

Mary Gillen
Director of Area Support
Recovery International

MRCE does not find jobs for peers, we list position openings that employers send to us.

You can send us the link to where you publish the actual job description, and we will link to your Human Recourses page. I hope this is helpful.

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Links to Northern Lakes?

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Is there a place to link to our Virtual Recovery Center at Northern Lakes CMH? We have included a link to your site on ours...
Just wondering....
Deb

We know your site and respect the great quality of the contents.  Your request has been forwarded to the web master.  If other organizations want to to included, contact us with that request.   

Brandi, this is something we would also like to be able to include on the site. Unfortunately , publishing

the identity of the Certified Peers is an issue of confidentiality. As you know, to be in the training program, the candidates are consumers of Community Mental Health services, and their identity is protected from disclosure..

This is an interesting request. Although the individual stories do belong to the narrator, the permission to record and, after editing, post their video on the site, is limited to the MRCE site. We can contact story tellers and give them your request to consider. The follow up would be up to them and you to work out. Perhaps another solution would be for MRCE to come to your agency and shoot videos with your local peers, drop in members, and other volunteers. Let us know how you want us to help.

just found your site & I like it

Why did I, longtime CMH "consumer" (hate that term) have to steal your flyer off a bulletin board to find you? Ya'll know who we are: you could have sent me flyer in the mail! joey

Jo Ann raises an interesting issue. We do create and distribute a number of posters and flyers for the MRCE. We will of course mail any of them to individuals who write or call to request them. Perhaps, we should post them on the site so visitors can download them for them selves. Watch the daily news on the home page for updates.

Dual Recovery Anonymous

After attending the 1st and most recently the second DRA Conference I would hope that all parties concerned with Dual Recovery become active in implementing a state-wide network of Dual Recovery Anonymous groups

Thank you Joel,for your comment.  DRA seems to be a valuable choice for many people here in Michigan. 

Contact information is available in the self help area of this site

Supported Education Program

We are sad to hear that this consumer valued program is ending. There is a long history of many people participating and improving their lives with this service. On behalf of all of them, we say thank you to all who have created and nurtured S.E.

Topic   Peer Support Conference

Great workshop - great site!   Glad to be part of it!

Thank you for your support.   We feel glad to be part of it as well

Using grant money, what are some ways mental health organizations use to challenge stigma in the community?  

Thank you for your question.  I contacted the Department of Community Health, and learned that eight (8)  anti-stigma projects were funded for the FY 80-09.  The scope of the projects ranged form using media to educate  the community, to developing staff training, to enlisting peer support specialists in community integration activities with individual consumers to support recovery.

A summery chart of the projects will be posted on the Anti-stigma page  of this site.

Just wanted to say thank all for the incredible job your doing...   I'm in Oregon now.......but am so proud of the innovative way Michigan has opened their arms to peers and now I really know that it's not like that anywhere and have had a new perspective on just how lucky we are as peers in Michigan.   Thank you so much for all of your hard work at Michigan Pecovery Center of Excellence.  May God bless each of you.

Always,

Deb Parker.

Thank you Deb, for your kind words and the good work you did while you were in Michigan.  You are missed here.  Your recovery video  on the MRCE  site has been transcribed an will be posted soon. 

See attached information regarding Recovery Friday celebrations in Detroit.

Gerald,

Thanks for letting us know about Recovery Fridays.  Your information has been posted to the Recovery Calendar section of the website.

Here is an online exclusive article about the cemetary project, a blurb I wrote about it and some links.

Marty,

Thanks for sharing your story and information about the cemetary project.  Your story and links have been posted as a Recovery News item.

Can the attached job be posted on mirecovery.org?  We have two part-time positions open for Peer Support Specialists within our ACT program.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Cheryl,

Thanks again for your contribution.  Your ACT positions have been posted in the Peer Support section of the website.

I was referred by Sheila Kennedy, Peer Board President of the Recovery Cooperative.  She is with Community Mental Health of Muskegon.  We would like to post an employment opportunity for an Administrative Recovery Coach.  Let me know if you need anything else.

Jen,

Thank you for your input.  The Administrative Recovery Coach position has been posted in the Peer Support section of the website.

Attached is the peer support specialist posting per our phone conversation.  Please let me know if you have any questions.  Thanks.

Cheryl,

Thank you for notifying the MRCE about this employment opportunity.  Your peer support specialist position has been posted in the Peer Support section of the website.