Integrative Wellness held its fourth annual Rock Out Recovery event Thursday at Pike Place.
The free, family-friendly gathering is held every September to commemorate National Recovery Month.
Macy Simmons is the Director of Addiction and Recovery Support Services at InWell, a behavioral health provider and regional recovery hub for the state. She said the event was inspired by other Recovery Month celebrations that started to take place all over the country after the pandemic.
Rock Out Recovery offered a free meal, a DJ and live music to anyone who stopped by the event.
Montgomery Superior Court Judge Heather Barajas gave the opening remarks.
Barajas shared how she grew up with two alcoholic parents and how she can relate with families of recovering addicts. However, she wasn’t always sympathetic to people with addiction. She believed if someone wanted to quit, they would just quit.
“I was truly so naive,” Barajas said.
It took Barajas many years to understand the depth of addiction. When she first became judge and took over the county’s drug court, she wasn’t sure she’d keep it — tentatively agreeing to try it for at least one year.
It was at the first drug court graduation ceremony she attended, that her perspective began to change.
Barajas retold the story of a girl at that ceremony who had invited her father to speak.
“He talked about how he and his wife had been watching their daughter slip away from them slowly over the years and it was killing them to watch her kill herself,” Barajas said. “And every time the phone rang, they thought they were going to get the call that she had overdosed and died. And it was killing them.”
The father said every time the phone would ring, he thought it’d be the call telling him his daughter had succumbed to her addiction and died. It came to the point he and his wife began to pray that the call would just come.
“As a parent, I cannot even fathom how that must have felt,” Barajas said.
It was seeing the girl’s father no longer fearing for his daughter’s life and the relief and happiness he felt, that moved Barajas’ mind and heart.
“I knew that even if one person finished the program each year, that we were going to keep that program no matter what it took. And now the program has grown into something that we are all tremendously proud of and it’s the highlight of my life. And that girl, well she’s doing amazing,” Barajas said.
Several community organizations, including Recovery Coalition, Pam’s Promise and Crawfordsville Pride, were at the event to share resources for people recovering from addiction or dealing with mental illness or other situations. They were joined by representatives from several health centers and other recovery centers from around the region and state.
Connie Esra, director of the Recovery Coalition, said the local center provides a space for those struggling with addiction, substance abuse disorders, those in recovery and those who are seeking recovery. She said the center gives people a place to reconnect with their families.
“We recently included Celebrate Recovery at our place and that’s a faith-based, 12-step program,” Esra said.
The center also offers SMART Recovery meetings and supports all pathways to recovery.
Last year the Recovery Coalition was able to help more than 3,000 people.
Elizabeth Zuk, executive director of Pam’s Promise, shared information with eventgoers about the transitional housing program for women and women with children.
Zuk said the six-month program encourages independent living and doesn’t have many restrictions on the women its serving.
“We’re not like a rehab. We’re not a 24-7 facility. It’s very independent living,” Zuk said.
Pam’s Promise can provide living spaces for 13 women at a time and teaches life skills that encourages self-reliability.
“Our ultimate goal is for them to find stable, sustainable housing so they’re never going to be in that situation again,” Zuk said.
Last year, the program was able to house 29 women.
Crawfordsville Pride volunteers also attended the event to share their support. Director Morgan Vesey and Tressa Valentine, community outreach coordinator, met with community members who stopped by their table.
“Today we’re promoting harm reduction as well as just reminding the LGBTQ+ community that we’re here no matter what walk of life they’re on,” Vesey said. “We’re here to meet people where they are and show them that we care no matter what. And to help them to get where they need to be.”
