Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to Destination Change, podcast where we talk recovery, treatment, and more. I'm your host, Angie Feidler-Sutton, with the National Behavioral Health Association Providers, and I use she, her pronouns. My guest today is Patty McCarthy.
Speaker: Patty McCarthy, MS, she, her, is the Chief Executive Officer of Faces and Voices of Recovery, a national recovery advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. A longtime recovery advocate and systems leader, she brings over 20 years of experience in public policy, community mobilization, and peer-based recovery support.
Speaker: Patty previously served as Deputy Director of SAMHSA's BRSS-TACS Initiative at the Center for Social and Innovation and spent a decade leading Friends of Recovery Vermont, a statewide recovery community organization.
Speaker: She has been instrumental in advancing national accreditation for recovery community organizations and strengthening peer support and workforce standards. A sought-off speaker and facilitator, Patty brings a powerful blend of professional expertise and lived experiences to conversations about leadership, recovery advocacy, and systems transformation.
Speaker: She has been in long-term recovery since 1989. Thank you for joining us with Destination Change. Well, thank you so much, Angie. It's great to be here, and I'm super excited about this today. And, you know, I was just thinking as you were speaking about the name of this podcast, and it's so appropriate for Recovery, very much aligned with what we're going to talk about today Exactly. That's part of why Pete named it the way he named it.
Speaker: Usual listeners of the podcast will know exactly what my first question is. And we kind of already know the answer based off your bio, but I always like to hear what I call origin stories, basically how you got into this space. There are plenty of other jobs out there.
Speaker: What made you decide to do this versus anything else in your life? That's a great question. I will start with my history. It's been, I entered my recovery journey in 1989. So it's been 36 years now since I've been in recovery. And, you know, those early days, early years where I first learned about treatment and recovery and prevention and the things that helped people get well. 12-step communities, other pathways, you know, all of that was really just, I soaked it all up. I loved it. And so I started getting involved with, you know, community events and raising awareness and going to trainings that the professionals were going to, even though I wasn't really in the field yet, I still wanted to learn more. And
Speaker: I think I just had, ah you know, at a young age, a passion for helping others and also community organizing. So given my personal lived experience of being in recovery from alcohol and drug addiction, as well as, you know, experience with prevention, treatment and community recovery support services, I entered this field really not knowing what to expect or never ever would have imagined I'd be.
Speaker: leading faces and voices of recovery as a national advocacy organization. I don't think I know a single person who is in a field that they actually got their degree in.
Speaker: You mentioned the name of the podcast. Part of the reason we call it Destination Change is because we are strong believers in the fact that recovery is a journey and it's an individual journey for everyone. It's different for everybody. For you, what does it mean to go through recovery treatment? Talk a little bit about that.
Speaker: Well, you know, I think it's different for everyone. I think the core of it is, i guess, finding myself and who I am and knowing who I am today. That wasn't something that I was proud of or knew a whole lot about when I was younger, when I was using alcohol or drugs and, you know, going on this journey and being part of, you know, doing the work. I had to do a lot of work.
Speaker: to understand what was going on and how I could change and what I wanted to do in life. I knew that what I was doing wasn't working. i didn't want to live that way anymore.
Speaker: And I found hope. So I think the bottom line is when I saw other people in recovery, it gave me hope. And I think that's what this whole journey is about is that the connections we make, we see and we get inspired and empowered by other people and their their recovery, and the hope that they bring to future generations to live a life that is meaningful, purposeful, and healthy.
Speaker: That sounds like a great reason. You are a CEO. I always like asking CEOs because I know there is no such thing as an average day for CEOs, but kind of what exactly do you do other than lots of meetings, obviously? What what do you do on a regular basis?
Speaker: Another great question. And i I guess I don't have to think about that too much because It's what I do every day in and day out. I basically work with an amazing team here at Faces and Voices, and I help them with where, you know, the priorities of the organization, setting the direction, finding out what they need to be successful, supporting them in in all of the programs that we offer.
Speaker: And at the same time, I'm doing the external relationship building, talking with our policy folks, working with and meeting with, say, members of Congress and their staffers or federal agencies, ah friends and colleagues at other national organizations, and really getting aligned with where we're all focusing and what the current trends are.
Speaker: Where's the advocacy needs today? How can we join together for a common mission or values as well as messages? What we're saying to the public, as well as our funders and sources of, you know, sustaining the work that we're all doing, whether it be prevention, treatment and recovery, we're all part of this together.
Speaker: And so I think the main thing is being a convener and having good relationships with other national organizations that are all working to try to do the same thing and save lives and and help our future generations.
Speaker: Very important job. Definitely. Now your bio talked about how you spent a decade leading Friends of a Recovery Vermont. You're now at Faces and Voices with of a national organization. I'm sure there are a lot of similarities as well as differences between leading a state-based organization versus a national organization. Can you talk a little bit about kind of ah what is the same, what is different? How did you, you know, adjust from one to the other?
Speaker: Yeah, it was pretty seamless because there is a lot that's the same. I think as state directors, we you know have to be in touch with what's going on on the national level, what's coming down into the states, whether it's you know policy changes or funding decisions or you know best practices that are being researched and evaluated out there. So you're always looking for that information and how you can strengthen and build what's happening within the state. So I, as a state director of a
Speaker: statewide recovery community organization hosted annual legislative awareness days, recovery day at the Capitol. So we would do awards. We would bring in other members of our legislature, our governor. We talk about recovery and celebrate the progress that we were making.
Speaker: And a lot of my work had to do with community organizing. So helping communities develop recovery community organizations where it's grassroots, it's peer-run, it's made up of the recovery community, but they're there to learn and develop its programs to help people find recovery.
Speaker: Non-clinical services, and that's the distinction with what we do in Faces and Voices of Recovery, as well as our state affiliates. It's really about building those recovery support services, and that could look like community recovery centers, and or it could be a recovery housing or recovery high school or a recovery workplace program, collegiate recovery programs. There's so many things that make up recovery support services.
Speaker: And that's really where my focus was. And honestly, I did get a degree in psychology and began working in treatment. I had also worked for a short period of time in prevention. So I worked as a state employee working on prevention of of substance use.
Speaker: Then I got my master's degree and did my clinical work as a child and family therapist. And it wasn't the way I wanted to go. I wanted to be working with the community. I wanted to make change and influence policy because I kept coming across so many roadblocks in my state to help the people that were my clients.
Speaker: So I found out that I wasn't cut out for that. I really wanted to go bigger and try to make a difference to help with policy work. couple different ways. So let's start first. You mentioned roadblocks. you know What are some of the biggest roadblocks you see on a regular basis that we're battling now?
Speaker: Yeah, I think our biggest battle is the stigma. I believe it's gotten better, but that depends on how you're looking at it. There's still policies that are discriminatory.
Speaker: There's still practices that are you know full of stigma and misunderstanding and misinformation. I think that we need more awareness But I do know that it's changed. I know that over the past 20 plus years, actually it'll be 25 years, the faces and voices began this year. And I think, and we just completed a survey that measured the difference between 20 years ago, the perception of recovery in the public and what it is today. And I can't wait to tell everyone about the results. It's coming out soon. But really, I do think that we've made people are what we've learned is that by saying, I'm Patty, I'm a woman in long term recovery. And what that means to me is now that messaging was developed by faces and voices because the public didn't understand what recovery is. So in order for us to put a face and a voice on recovery, we would tell our stories, but we would do it in a way
Speaker: ah that has meaning and purpose and succinct and helps to, you know, with a specific purpose, and that's to educate the public. So now most people know somebody in recovery or they have a family member recovery. They're not afraid to talk about it.
Speaker: So in that sense, a lot has changed in terms of stigma. It's the systems and the barriers to treatment and recovery that are still not up to where they need to be.
Speaker: So that's what our biggest roadblock is that, you know, they're accessing whether it's residential housing or family support or high school programs, you know, or but policies that enable access to f financial aid or government assistance.
Speaker: Those are still legislative and regulatory policies that we still have a lot of work to do. ah Exactly. One of the things we do cover is the importance of recovery capital. You've kind of brought up a few of those. Talk a little bit about the importance of recovery capital, both in recovery overall, as well as in your work.
Speaker: Yeah, that recovery capital is really groundbreaking. It really helped, you know, it's a number of years ago, obviously, when over 20 years ago that we were really looking at what is recovery capital and the the information that was so clear was the internal and external assets that help a person on their recovery.
Speaker: And it made it very clear that there's community-based recovery capital and then there's the internal recovery capital. And I think about things like why in my recovery journey, I might've been successful when somebody else wasn't. And, you know, there's a lot of demographic reasons for that and things that set me up for success that a lot of people don't have.
Speaker: But I think that we come from it. You know, I think about the days where I would say, okay, I've been to treatment four times now. But that was actually worked to my advantage because now I know what worked and what didn't and how I could change.
Speaker: And I think we have to look at like, what are our assets, our experiences, our family situations, our education, those, you know, our job skills or, you know, just the the zip code that we live in.
Speaker: So all of those things recovery capital. And I think we have to, you know, I i know that there's recent conversations about negative recovery capital. And that means that there are populations of people that are just not, just but by no fault of their own, they have negative recovery capital. Like I said, you know, the zip code, the experiences that they've had in generations are really setting people back that don't even have that advantage of building recovery capital.
Speaker: But it has changed our work in a huge way because we are now able to look at kind of a baseline And what would help a person by their own choice and their own goals to build their recovery capital.
Speaker: So when they identify, i really would like to have a roof over my head and i would like to get some dental work done. And if I could take a class, this is what I would do. would go back to learn how to be an electrician or, you know, something like that.
Speaker: Like these are the things that we work with people on because we start with a baseline. We don't do it all at once, but when we have a recovery capital assessment or, you know, something to measure, then we put it into a recovery plan and we can grow that.
Speaker: We can start from there. And that's what peer support does that's different than the clinical treatment is that, you know, recovery support providers can take a recovery capital plan and it has nothing to do with their clinical diagnosis.
Speaker: It has nothing to do with abstinence or not, you know, it It talks about what that person wants to do to succeed and meeting them where they're So I think it's been really helpful. And I think on a bigger scale, we at Faces and Voices, we offer recovery capital pop-ups, which are basically where we bring together the community for everyone from an education settings to law enforcement to court systems to people, family members, individuals in recovery, and
Speaker: we bring them all together and we look at you know where do you want to go with the recovery capital in your community so it's really external it's what exists how to assess it and learn what else could be in place to really help build recovery capital in a community so we call them recovery ready communities it Yeah, no, I want to say there's an article in Counselor about recovery communities, or at least there will be. I remember reading one and and part of my job duties is writer regular for counselor. Let's talk a little bit about the advocacy work. Paces Voices is primarily ah an advocacy organization. We also do advocacy and we also, our advocate is Andrew Kessler, who also works for you. He's a great guy. And he, for those of you who are new listeners to the podcast, a reminder, I interviewed him
Speaker: early on in an interview, and I'll make as sure there's a link to that interview in the show notes. Talk a little bit more about the advocacy work that you've been doing, especially nowadays when things are changing on a minute basis nowadays, they're rather, let alone, you know, on a daily basis.
Speaker: Yeah, it really is hard to keep up with. In some ways, unfortunately, like what we're used to is that things take forever to get past or change. And what's happening now is that there's not a lot of, I'd say, thought or processes in place and things are changing anyway. So like whether the advocacy community is there or not doesn't seem to matter.
Speaker: ah Well, it matters to us, but the policymakers or decision makers are are moving quickly to make changes that are impacting people in recovery and recovery support providers.
Speaker: Things like, you know, recovery housing or people experiencing unhoused people and and, you know, the the issue now with forced detention. i mean, there are so many things that are just moving in ways that I could never have imagined, you know, because of the built the work we've been doing for the past 10 years. We've moved much more towards advocacy that is about compassionate care, about shifting the focus to long-term recovery that people can and do recover instead of that focus of short-term acute care. So there's been a lot of progress in rules, regulations, legislation. It's all, you know, we can't go backwards.
Speaker: Unfortunately, what we're seeing now is that there are efforts to claw back some rules, especially around medication-assisted treatments. medications for opioid use disorder, things that went into an effect during COVID is really about telehealth and telemedicine and things that were really helpful to the recovery community.
Speaker: No longer having to struggle to get to an appointment when they can do it telehealth or be prescribed for initiation medication. So those kinds of things are, you know, that's just one example, but when things pop up, they seem to be taking hold quickly.
Speaker: And we have to be completely ready. And i think, you know, as you mentioned, having a federal affairs representative is very helpful for that. and also just making sure that like I have had, I still have, you know, members of Congress staffers just contact me directly and say, you know, I want to talk. Can you, can you tell us about this? Or we want to talk about this, you know?
Speaker: And so that's really helpful to build those relationships so that we know we can be at the table and and helping to influence policy in that way. Now, when I do talk to people who are in the advocacy area, you know, for someone who may not be used to advocating, what are kind of some of the things you recommend for kind of how to get started? How do they, you know, what do they do? Where where should they go? What the kind of focus, you know, how do they focus, you know, especially again today when your information is coming in so rapidly, what are some of the recommendations you would give for someone who wants to do more advocacy?
Speaker: Yeah, I think it's there's some really basic understanding. And one is that advocacy is different than lobbying. There is a distinction. And I think that people are afraid that if they get into a lobbying space that they're in jeopardy, whether it be their job or their funding, because nonprofits have limited ability to lobby.
Speaker: But advocacy is about educating. And it's using your lived experience or using your voice about what's working in your community and what's not. It's being able to say that, you know, how your family's been impacted and why this policy needs to change.
Speaker: That's all advocacy. And there's, you know, you can't go wrong when you're using your own lived experience. I think that the other thing to remember is that the the people that are your policymakers, whether it be your city council, your your state legislature, or congressional representation, they're just people.
Speaker: And in most cases, they know very little about the subject. they They didn't go into their policy role or official elected official role as an expert in substance use disorder or mental health.
Speaker: They went in because they had they wanted the skills to be civic engagement and political figures. I think that they know that they need that education and that's why they have staff.
Speaker: The staff are the ones, the health the the health liaisons, the folks that are really learning for them and helping them make those decisions. And they, those staff will, will really influence how that person will vote on healthcare issues. Now, you know, advocacy can be anything from big A to little a, which means that like little a means like you may be helping someone learn about advocate for themselves. Right.
Speaker: they They want to get into a college course, but they're running against roadblocks. So you teach them, these are the things you can say. These are the things you can do and you can advocate for yourself.
Speaker: The big a is the larger like policy issues. And so I think, you know, basic education around advocacy 101, how to influence policy.
Speaker: In other words, how a bill becomes a law and where to start, you know, and I think in your own community is the way to go. But I also strongly urge people to get involved with the whatever statewide recovery advocacy organization is in your state, because they generally work with Faces and Voices of Recovery, and we give them the information that could help you and with your advocacy. So whether it be toolkits or policy papers or discussions that we have, forums, focus groups, things
Speaker: those statewide RCOs are doing similar work and they are going and they're bringing people to to testify or or talk with staffers and things like that. So we really do need more voices and we need to make sure we understand how to use you know the language that we use in the recovery community to influence policy.
Speaker: ah Kind of not make a joke, but you know you need to have the faces and voices. I wonder how you got the name of the organization. You know, in your bio, we talked about how you have done a lot of speaking about leadership. You yourself are a CEO. One of my other favorite questions I like to ask people who who talk about leadership or who are in leadership positions, in your personal opinion, what makes a good leader?
Speaker: Well, you know, I think, ah let's see. When I think of that question, mike first thing that comes to mind is servant leadership. Now, when I think of a good leader, I don't think about the person that needs to have be front and center.
Speaker: I don't think about the person that needs to be put on a pedestal or idolized. I think about the person that's able to have to help they you know ah other leaders become leaders.
Speaker: And I think that that means you know keep letting others take the lead or lifting up other agencies or organizations that are doing good work at the same time, making sure that we have our own credibility and influence in our own networks. So I think, you know, what makes a good leader? I think that the the ability to, you know, it's like intuitiveness, being able to know and read the room, know who needs what, and knowing how to advocate for other people, advocate for our cause, and step up when we need to.
Speaker: And I think that that comes with experience. I don't think everybody's born with that. I think you can learn it. I think, you you know, you can do it, but it it takes up more than being a charismatic leader.
Speaker: It takes a lot of skill and leadership skills to understand, you know, that we're we're here working for a bigger cause. You know, it's not about me. It's about this cause. It's about helping some people that need it to stay alive and and and help their kids and their family members get well.
Speaker: So when we keep that in mind, I think leadership evolves and and there's leaders all over that don't even see themselves as leaders, but they are leaders. If they're they're working in this space and helping others, they have something to share.
Speaker: What would be your biggest piece of advice to someone who wants to be a better leader? I think it's a lot of self-reflection on your own leadership skills. I think that, you know,
Speaker: Learning who you could be partnering with to know, to not, I think that in this space right now, we have such limited resources that we need to be sure that we're understanding everybody else's roles.
Speaker: And i don't need to, you know, it's about using our strengths and our energy and our passion in what we're best at, you know, versus being all things to all people.
Speaker: I always say also that, you know, stay in your lane. You know, a good leader knows that they, you know, they're there for a specific cause and we don't pretend to know everything and we can't respond to everything because there's other people that will respond and we can work with them. We can learn from them what their response is going to be and then we can back them up. But knowing that you don't have to be all things to all people.
Speaker: We're not, you know, so the leadership takes experience. It takes good collaboration skills and judgment. And so that's, a you know, again, charismatic leaders are wonderful. We all love them, you know, but they that the answer is not necessarily to be the poster child for recovery.
Speaker: It's really about who are the other people that have come up as leaders because of your your leadership. Definitely those there are the same qualities I look for in a leader myself.
Speaker: Another part of your thing that you speak about is systems transformation. I'm going to be really simple with this question. How do you transform a system? yeah Oh yeah, that's simple, right? Yeah, just two things, right? Yeah, well, you know, that's the biggest thing to to know is that it takes time. Nothing happens easily when you're transforming systems. I think it's important to know also that there's You know, to truly be transformative, it has to, it means engaging people with lived experience in getting behind that. And where are the champions? You know, there are champions that may have be leaders in a community that you never would have thought of.
Speaker: So how do you find the right people to champion your cause to make that change, to really transform a system? You know, you never know. and We have so many different sectors we never think about, but there's like the health insurance agencies, the payers, lawmakers, other regulatory bodies, you know, labor departments and all of these factors that come into play whenever you're trying to make a systems change. And we we need to see it happening from the federal level because, you know, I'm not saying that that's
Speaker: That has to happen in order for change to happen on a grassroots community level. We can make change. We've shown it over and over again with enough effort and advocacy and the right people at the right time.
Speaker: You can make change in a community. I think that when we're talking about systems change in a federal level, you know, we all talk about, like, the you know, the bureaucracies that, you know, that to make it take time.
Speaker: But that, again, is about knowing that the right people are at the right table and they're hearing from the people that are most impacted. So lived experience in every decision, nothing about us without us being at the table.
Speaker: Those kind of things will help to make systems change. We are about halfway mark, but I want to get into continuing talking about your job. What would you say is the hardest or you' the least favorite part of what you do?
Speaker: Oh, that's that's hard because I love everything I do, really. That's a tough question. Then what's the hardest? What's the most difficult thing? I think it's really that long-term sustainability piece.
Speaker: I mean, i can't help but worry because I, you know, as a ceo you're you're trying to maintain an organization and the livelihood of the people that work there, you know, the future of those folks. So,
Speaker: thinking and working collaboratively with board members, with staff to ensure our sustainability is hard. It happens and we all have to do it to survive, but it takes a lot of work. And so that, that, you know, I, I'd much rather be working with people and developing programs and, and all of that. Not that I, I obviously it it's part of my job and it's a,
Speaker: it's absolutely necessary for a CEO to put that front and center, as sustaining their organization. I think that for the people out there listening, they can relate, but I think what we need to do is start thinking about where is the recovery philanthropy out there? Because your organization and beha and and all of the providers out there have helped many, many people who have gone on to be successful.
Speaker: Where is the You know, they might have started a new business. They might have started a profitable career. Now, we need them to give back. I think that's the part about recovery philanthropy that I think we all need to get behind is that there's ways to sustain this work.
Speaker: If we all think about, you know, what we gained from our own recovery and how do we give back to that, whether it be financially or skills and opening doors, those type of things. You know, you think about the entertainment industry.
Speaker: You know, there's so many people that get well and they're doing, they're thriving in their bands and they're writing and they're acting and all of those career things. But giving back is really important. So helping to sustain a movement takes a lot of work. So sustainability, I think, is the the biggest challenge for CEOs, especially for, you know, nonprofits that weathering different economic storms or policy challenges,
Speaker: I'm glad I have a very strong board and supportive folks that are behind us that have been behind us for 20 plus years that have helped.
Speaker: Now, you kind of already answered this in your answer, but you you know of course the opposite. What is your favorite part of your job? what are you What's the thing that makes the job worth doing? I think that favorite part is the people.
Speaker: And it's you know it's funny because like for a long time before this job, I was doing a lot of training training. convenings and facilitating meetings and town halls and things like that.
Speaker: And now I, you know, I do it once in a while, but when I do get to do it, I really love it because people come to a training and and they might be surprised that I'm facilitating the training and not one of my staff.
Speaker: But when I get to see, you know, those aha moments and people are like, ah, yeah, now I get it, you know, or they're going back and learning some new leadership skill.
Speaker: and that's going to make a difference. I really love that. I love that part of it. Just seeing people, you know, the light bulb go off that, you know, I get it now what recovery advocacy is, or now I understand why I can speak out, even though i have this anonymity with my 12 step program, you know, but now I get, that was huge.
Speaker: When my, when I first started doing this work and I myself being in 12-step recovery, like, you know, I i knew that it was it was interesting. it was an evolution of my own thinking. So I think when I see that aha moment, like, oh yeah, I can go out and I can speak up.
Speaker: This isn't violating any of my traditions or anything like that. You know, that's the part that I love is really just seeing people come around and want to share their stories. Now, I'm a nerd, as people know, i love time travel. If you could travel in time and meet yourself as you were first starting out, what advice would you give yourself? What kind of are your biggest lessons learned?
Speaker: That's so funny. i I think about all the many, many, many different types of careers some people can have. And the in the nonprofit world is is definitely unique. It also requires a lot of work.
Speaker: It means that your your day doesn't usually end at five o'clock. And, you know, you have things that you always could do more.
Speaker: i think about things where you jobs where you have you go into work and you leave work. There's nothing you can do after work for your work. You know, like how do you find a balance, the work life balance?
Speaker: And I think that that's the things that I think people coming into this space, especially in the younger these new generations. They really do care about that work-life balance. And so I think we need to look back and say, you know, what are we modeling?
Speaker: How do we encourage new leaders and people come into the work, but also know that you know, they can end their day and not have to have it all on their mind about what they're working on or, you know, what's going to be done, what their work is tomorrow, that you can walk away and go live your life and come back to work and it's all still there.
Speaker: But feeling satisfied, have job satisfaction, that your work really makes a difference. Along the same lines, as mentioned, you do a lot of speaking events. I'm sure you get a lot of people asking you questions. What would you say is the biggest question, you you know the most um often question or the biggest piece of advice you give?
Speaker: I think it's usually just stay the course. I don't want, I know that how hard it is that sometimes you want to give up, but I think we need to like keep that core messages front and center.
Speaker: such as recovery is real. People do recover. There's 23 million Americans in recovery. Let's not lose sight of that. There's a lot of good stuff happening out there. You know, we can get bogged down with ah the the terrible news out there, the tragedies, and every tragedy is horrible. And, it you know, it's we don't want not one more person to die from alcohol or drug addiction. And we just...
Speaker: And at the same time, we have to recognize that we have come a long way. We have to recognize that there's new treatments, new technologies. there's Things are different than it was 20 years ago. And and we have to like understand and go along with the ride, but stay the course.
Speaker: Keep doing what we do and what we know is best because that's what's going to make a difference. And eventually, i think that Some things might fall off as old school, you know, different ways to do things because something new came along.
Speaker: But really, it's the values that we have to stay with, you know, that we value dignity and respect for all people. Freedom of choice and pathway is important. We respect all pathways of recovery.
Speaker: That's what I think. That is great advice. You've mentioned that we have these regular tragedies and especially in this industry, you see a lot of not so great stuff. How would you recommend people to kind of combat compassion fatigue or how do you yourself kind of keep yourself from, you know, not giving up and and kind of taking that break and getting that distance of realizing that you can only do so much?
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, I've learned over the years to take time away. And I think that's the biggest thing is that, you know, there's You know, I think we work so hard and we want to, you know, we know there's compassion involved because, and just basic fatigue, you know, being tired.
Speaker: So really learning to take care of ourselves in a way that, you know, whether it means getting more sleep or reading a new book or listening to music or going to find a new friend group, traveling to a new destination or, you know, spending more time with my family. All of these things are really important and I don't lose sight of that. I know that, you know, you have to go. I went through a lot to get to where I am today. So I could look back and say, I think there were some sacrifices, you know, whether it be raising children, you know, or being a single parent and those type of things. I think that you always have to look back and say, you know, what would what did I do to get to where I am today? and What would I do differently? And, you know, really, i don't think I i would we'll change a thing.
Speaker: I think that it's worth it. Everything that that we do is is worth it. I think that most importantly is protecting ourselves from burnout and really looking at that work-life balance and you know putting in a good day's work, but at the same time, knowing that I'm building in my three-day weekends, you know or I'm shutting my phone off at you know when I get done today, or you know I'm gonna know technology and go read a book. you know Those types things are really important nowadays.
Speaker: Well, first of all, as a child, as ah of a single parent myself, I say, well done. and And I know it's how tough that is from the other side. So I thank you for what you did. Now, you have your proverbial finger on the pulse in the industry. If someone wants to kind of keep updated with what's going on in recovery industry or in advocacy of recovery, oh what kind of resources would you recommend they seek out? What kind of webs other than obviously Faces and Voices?
Speaker: Well, you know, I do want to mention and make sure everybody knows that, you know, we're we're constantly coming up with new programs or or products or things that I'd love for people to check out at facesandvoicesofrecovery.org.
Speaker: That includes things like a recovery data platform. We have a new app for peers, the peer workforce. We do a lot of training and we also certify recovery community organizations and accredit organizations that provide peer services.
Speaker: And that's all in addition to our advocacy and our public policy work. But some of the things that I count on as a leader are to keep on top of things around, you know, new resources, like the Global Health Advocacy Incubator has and has some new tools that are really exciting, really appropriate helpful around overdose prevention, understanding like federal funding.
Speaker: So I would strongly recommend a Global Health Advocacy Incubator. if you search that, you'll find there's some really good work being done. I also know that it's important right now to be tracking what's going on with opioid settlement funds. So opioidsettlementtracker.com is another resource that I think people would really like and benefit from because it really drills down to a state and community level. What's going on in communities to provide that groups may have access to funding to do the work that they're doing.
Speaker: Well, we are close to the end of this conversation. Was there something that you wanted to talk about that we haven't or that you thought I was going to ask, but I didn't? No, I think you've covered a lot, which is great. I just wanted to say that our whole goal is to unify voices, that you all, listeners, have your own perspective on things, but when we can You know, but come together and reach out and share your perspectives and get involved with the national movement that really is about putting a face and a voice on recovery. Whether you're a person in recovery or not that's listening, you're an ally. You're an ally to recovery and to the recovery community. So join us and get involved in in learning more about what's going on.
Speaker: Faces and Voices is a model. Other countries have replicated it. facing the voices of recovery, United Kingdom, South Africa, Brazil, Canada, you know, there are definitely groups out there that are doing the same thing, which is essentially put of advocacy, education and public awareness, and providing support services to whether it be other organizations or peers and people in recovery in their own community.
Speaker: So Get involved. That's the bottom line. The last thing I want to say. Thank you. Other than the Faces and Voices website, I will be linking to your LinkedIn. Is there any other suggestions for if people want to get a hold of you specifically as to how to reach out to you?
Speaker: Well, the contact us form on our website is the best way. It goes directly to me if you select me because my name should be there and I will get your email. And then you could just call her or my number and find a directory to leave me a voicemail. look forward to hearing from folks.
Speaker: Now, you kind of already stole the thunder of this question, but I always like for my last question, you know, gut instinct without thinking of it, just you know straight off. Why do you do what you do?
Speaker: Because of what I've benefited from in my own recovery, that's what i why I do it, because I want others to find recovery and have a life that they never would have imagined and be able to, you know, experience what that recovery journey is like.
Speaker: You've been listening to Destination Change. Our guest today was Patty McPurthy. Thank you for being here. our theme song is Sound Nation by Kitsa and used via Creative Common license by the Free Music Archive. Please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple Podcasts so we can get more listeners.
Speaker: In the meantime, you can always see more about the podcast, including show notes and where else to listen, on our website, www.nbhap.org. If you have any questions for the podcast, please email us at info at nbhap.org.
Speaker: Thanks for listening.
