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Did you hear the forecast?

Are you as tired of this weather as we are? Car stuck in ice. Events cancelled. No school. Kids bored. Lost gloves. Hat wet. Out of peanut butter. And branches down!          This is one tough winter for anyone, but for those of us in need of our community, our support system, our programs and our fellowships, the isolation is even more challenging. If you have electricity, though, this is when you should double up on making phone calls and using social media.         You can also get on your computer and explore how to expand your knowledge of addiction recovery. Just Google those two words and a whole world of resources will open up. Hopefully, one that will come up is PRO-ACT's Recovery Walks! 2014--or just click here.                                                                                        Gotta work out!

PRO-ACT and The Council will host our 13th annual Recovery Walk on September 20 in Philadelphia to celebrate addiction recovery. Everyone is welcome--you don't need to be in recovery. It provides a fun way for families to spend a day together and break the multi-generational impact that addiction has on them and our communities. And it's a great way to catch up with friends. Bring grandma, the family dog, your kids, and other loved ones.

The Walk has several purposes, but one is fundraising so that we can continue to provide the free recovery support services and programs that many of you have benefited from. For those unfamiliar with what we offer, here's just a keyhole glimpse of what we have done in just the last year alone (we could go on and on but by the time you'd get to the end, the snow may have melted): The Philadelphia Recovery Community Center, with 12,726 visitors, provided one-to-one  support to 1,561 individuals with a combination of peer-based recovery support services, face-to-face direct services, and other trainings and events. The latter included a monthly average of 76 peer-led workshops, groups, events, and/or social activities.  In Bucks County, 207 youth participated in school-based groups receiving "Life Skills Training" or "Too Good For Drugs" evidence-based curricula. And 531 students participated in psycho-educational groups to assist with coping skills and behavioral health needs. 418 young people aged 15-20 completed the Juvenile Awareness Program, which educates them on the various effects of substances on them and others.  In our Family Education Program, we helped more than 250 family members understand what they must do to get their loved ones into recovery and shed their own enabling behaviors. We provided consultation, technical assistance, best practice guidance, group facilitation and assessment services to 48 secondary school teams and 20 elementary school teams.  The Philadelphia Recovery Training Center served 2,356 individuals, providing a combination of peer-based recovery support services, face-to-face direct recovery support services and trainings and workshops. They also trained 102 new volunteers, 32 of whom became Recovery Coaches and 35 became Group Facilitators. 94 percent of participants in our DUI Program reported that our classes helped them gain new insight into their substance use and allowed them to develop new alternatives to replace using alcohol and other drugs. And, of course, we hosted 20,000 participants in PRO-ACT Recovery Walks! 2013 at Penn's Landing in Philadelphia.

Being snowed in is a great opportunity for you to contact your family, friends and associates and have them commit to your team for the Walk. If you click here, you'll find many handy tools and advice on how to form your team and get people excited about the Walk and collecting donations. Beginning now will save you a last minute rush in August or September. Remember, there's a prize for the team that collects the most in donations and also for the largest team.         Now, please take a look outside and see if your neighbor needs a push!

To make a donation to the Recovery Walk, please click here