Shining a light, changing lives

My very first delivery of our new magazine back in March of 2019 was to the women's re-entry center in Windham Maine.

The magazine had been approved to be distributed inside the walls of corrections throughout the state and the women's re-entry center was right down the street from my house and I wanted to drop it off.

I may have cried.

When creating that first issue - our goal was to get the magazine in front of people struggling with the consequences of active addiction - those in the depths of it.

Many members of the Journey team know from personal experiences that those depths can be dark, lonely and full of despair.

We also know that we can do recover and really want to shine a light and amplify the hope that those of us who have been there, done that and are not there now ... have an abundance of hope to share.

We know recovery is not only possible it's probable and our mission is to make recovery from addiction visible.

Since then, we've delivered well over 25,000 copies of the magazine to various Maine jails and prisons - in multiple bundles of 50 dropped off by a member of the Journey team, or dropped with Commissioner Liberty for distribution or mailed directly to the facilities by my sister out of New Hampshire.

I got this card last year and it's sat on my desk ever since -- a daily reminder of my "why".

This year (2021), we started to seek sponsorship for the magazines - giving organizations and businesses an opportunity to help us keep the magazine free and keep it flowing to these populations.

People who have no access to the internet and no access to the magazines out & about in their local communities.

We've partnered with Maine Prisoner Re-Entry Network on a program called "Journey to Freedom" - and have received a grant to send the magazines to all 15 jails from the Betterment Fund along with a donation from Margo at MaineWorks.

And today, Crisis & Counseling Centers is sponsoring distribution to the prisons for a year (along with more magazines to a few of the jails due to their population counts).

I'm overwhelmed at the compassion and collaboration with these groups and more organizations in breaking down the barriers, making recovery from addiction visible, serving our communities and saving lives.

When harnessing all the desire to make a difference and working together we will change this conversation around addiction.

This is how we can smash stigma - coming together to amplify a message of hope, support and solutions that we can and do recover and become active and engaged members of our community.

Grateful.