Busy Times! - Welcome

Hello everyone,
Welcome to my first blog on our website. Exciting times! Let me first thank Jamie Serpa for her tireless effort in putting the whole site together, which is well beyond me!
So where are we at ? As you may not be aware RICARES is a part time position, so when contacting us it may take a while to get back to you - so please be patient.
RICARES continues to be the voice for the recovery community and we run on the good will and support of our volunteers.
Our next event will take place on Sunday March 16th from 1-5pm and it our annual Sober St Patrick's music event. We have been doing them for 9 years now! This year has a special twist. In the media for the last year there has been a tremendous increase in the trivial use of people going to "rehab" and it plays out as a joke, leading up to the TV show "Celebrity Rehab". Several of the bulletin boards that RICARES is part of has many advocates outraged and what we are doing is attempting to show the real face of "rehab" - which we know as treatment and it certainly is no joke.So we will have people from the treatment, recovery and prevention communities on hand to speak with folks not only on 3-16 but ongoing. We will be demonstrating the DUI goggles as well as other tips for safety and recovery
We will also be doing a spot on the 9am Weekend Sunrise that day on Channel 10.
So hopefully folks will come out and find out how much fun we have in recovery!
Our Legislative Day is fast approaching and we welcome nominations in the following catagories:
Recovering person of the year - Provider of the year (any individual who works in the field )
Legislator of the year - Community member of the year
Media person of the year - Family member of the year
Just tell us why in a detailed manner about the impact your nominee has had
The date is 4-23-08 and we will have our Advocacy Workshop from 130-230pm.
The awards and guest speaker will be from 3-4 and of course we will have some light snacks for you! We need your nominations no later than the first week of April
Either by Email jgillen@dataofri.org
fax: 401-751-7850
Our next Legislative Committee is this Wed (3-5-08) 530pm - all are welcome - its at the RICARES office 102 Dupont Drive, Providence

Last week I was in DC for National Lobby Day about the disparity in the law for sentencing around crack vs powder cocaine, and how outdated it is. There were several stunning testimonials from people who were sentenced to big bids and only through presidential pardons were they able to be there to speak on it.
We also were able to meet with Sen. Whitehouse and his chief of staff and found him to be open to recovery issues in RI. Later in the day we also met with Staff for Rep. Kennedy and they have also expressed their support for the work of the recovery community here in RI.
Recovery is Possible!
There are applications for recovery coaches on our website
See ya soon!
\Jim