Reach Out Recovery has a big dream. We want to become the United Way of Recovery, raising funds to support the thousands of existing programs all across the country that currently are unknown to the general public. How can we do it? ROR is creating the media tools to raise awareness and create the recovery friendly environment that is crucial to make Recovery Giving a national priority. The first step is to show the nation that recovery is worth the investment. We believe, as with cancer, HIV, diabetes, heart disease, the public will support treatment for a chronic disease that is manageable. Partnership of Drug Free American reported last week that 23 million Americans are in recovery. If each gave a dollar back for their lives, a new feeling of “national” community would be launched. Corporations that now stay away from recovery causes, will begin to support it. Tens of thousands of lives will be saved every year. With their two documentaries, “The Secret World of Recovery” and “The Silent Majority,” Leslie and Lindsey Glass have begun to tell the story that education, prevention and recovery work. Now ROR media campaign begins at the Prism Awards in Los Angeles.

Support our effort and help us save lives. Every dollar raised goes directly, either to a nonprofit recovery or education organization, or to the ROR film or media fund.

ROR is Proud to Join SAMHSA Recovery Planning Partnership

March 28th Leslie and Lindsey traveled to Washington for the second week in a row. This time they went to SAMHSA’s (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency, a division of Health and Human Services) headquarters in Rockville, MD to join SAMHSA’s Recovery Planning Partnership for the first time. It was an honor to meet addiction and recovery professionals from all over the country. This recovery partnership represents a wide variety of organizations that provide many kinds of services, education, and community outreach all across the nation. ROR looks forward to getting to know all the participants and helping to tell their stories and finding innovative ways to support them.

First Screening of The Silent Majority at the Washington Hilton, April 10, 2012

Leslie and Lindsey were in Washington D.C. for a third week in a row to participate in the Joint Meeting on Adolescent Treatment Effectiveness (JMATE), “collaborating and integrating to support youth and families in an Era of Change.”

The Silent Majority has its very first screening, and an enthusiastic audience said they loved the movie. “Beautifully done. It brings real stories of hope and excitement to a field that needs tools to show that prevention and recovery work,” was the kind of praise we heard. Networking with 1100 treatment providers and recovery experts and advocates was a great learning experience. Lindsey and Leslie were proud to be presenters.

ROR To Film at The Prism Awards on April 19th

In collaboration with the Entertainment Industries Council, Reach Out Recovery will launch its media campaign by filming at the Prism Awards on April 19^th at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles. Leslie and Lindsey will interview attendees and award winners and do a behind the scenes look at Recovery on TV and in the movies.  You’ll see some of it on YouTube following the event.

Call to Action

ROR can’t change the world on its own. We need your help. In addition to speaking out for Recovery in the national arena, we are working on:

1. Events to launch “The Silent Majority” and ways to use the film as part of existing programs in a variety of non profits.
2. We are developing a Media Campaign–six public service commercials that will run all over the world forever for free. For this initiative, we need $20,000 for cameramen, editing, and graphics. And we need real people to appear on camera.

To donate to the campaign (Click here)
For an event, or to help with the media campaign and be in a spot, contact us. (Click Here)

ROR goes to Washington

Last week was Washington Week for Leslie and Lindsey Glass. On Monday, Leslie joined the White House Business Council for a “Conversation with Tampa, Orlando, and Jacksonville, FL Business Leaders” to learn about White House Business Partnership Opportunities. Leslie joined Roxie Jerge, Teri Hansen, Joel Fedder, Ken and Barbara Edelin, Ed and Sheila Crego as representatives from Sarasota, which is not considered an entity on its own.

This 5-hour briefing was an eye-opener for the 90+ Florida business leaders in attendance, and was the largest of the 40 get-togethers the White House has organized to date. The purpose of the meeting was to encourage business partnerships between local and national businesses and a wide range of government agencies. The meeting provided real information about what is going on in the Obama administration to spur innovative business ventures. We had face time with 16 senior White House advisors and directors and left with a new understanding and respect for the efforts the administration is making to create economic growth in every state. There is a lot more positive work going on than we hear about from any source.

Read more

Happy Valentine’s Day! Last week we reported that we had the privilege of meeting the first lady at Caren Lobo’s home in Sarasota. But then the week got even better. We received the news that our first documentary, The Secret World of Recovery, has been nominated for a Voice Award.  This is a huge honor. We couldn’t be more excited.

About the Voice Award

Sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Voice Awards honor consumer/peer leaders who have done exemplary work promoting the social inclusion of individuals with behavioral health problems. The awards also recognize TV and film writers and producers that incorporate dignified, respectful, and accurate portrayals of individuals with behavioral health problems into their scripts, programs, and productions.

The 2012 Voice Awards ceremony will take place on Wednesday, August 22 at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, CA. The event brings together people from the entertainment industry and behavioral health community for a night that celebrates increased awareness of mental health and substance use disorders and the power of recovery.

For more information about the Voice Awards, please visit www.voiceawards.samhsa.gov.

For information about using The Secret World for an event or fundraiser, contact us. Read more

What an exciting beginning to the new year. On January 26 ROR founders Leslie and Lindsey Glass met First Lady Michelle Obama at Caren Lobo’s house on the bay in Sarasota. It was a great thrill to meet and be in this great lady’s presence as she talked about the accomplishments of the Obama administration and the plans for the President’s second term.

At Reach Out Recovery, we look back on 2011 with amazement that so much has been accomplished in such a sort time. We have made amazing new friends all over the country and are planning for great strides in promoting recovery as a national cause in 2012. Read more

Fall has been a crazy time. Earthquakes on the East Coast, hurricanes and blizzards in October has made dodging the weather bullet a challenge everywhere. Leslie was in the air with nowhere to land during the earthquake and on a train heading north from D.C. during the blizzard. But October 21-22 on Lido Beach, Sarasota was perfect.

Reach Out Recovery, with wonderful volunteers from many organizations and friends from Manatee Glens, First Step of Sarasota, Coastal Behavioral Healthcare, Sunshine From Darkness, Shamrockers USA. Inc, Ringling College, Rehab After Work and many others gathered to celebrate Recovery. Over 500 people enjoyed the music, food, and activities during the two day event.

Artists on the stage included Road Recovery with Simon Kirk and the Type 2 band who came from New York to rock out. They were joined by Twinkle, Willie Royal, Tim Wilkins, and the Damon Marks band, Time Will Tell. There was glorious food and a friends of recovery from North Port to Bradenton. It was a magical evening on the beach as the sun went down Friday and the music played at the first public event at the newly named Ted Sperling Park. In fact, it was the first ever event at South Lido Park. A spectacular site for a picnic, a concert and a sports event. Read more

For Sarasota County teens, parents and friends.

Reach out Recovery Sponsors everything you wanted to know about prescription meds but were afraid to ask.

Thrusday, September 22, 2011
Sarasota High School Auditorium
1000 South School Avenue – Sarasota

Refreshments by Sweetbay Supermarket: 600 pm
Program: 6:30pm to 7:30pm

For more info, call 941.552.1065

Watch Leslie and Lindsey Glass on DAYTIME  (NBC stations nationwide) August 10 at 10am

It’s been an exciting few weeks.  At SAMHSA’s invitation, Lindsey spoke at the Young People’s Recovery Conference in Cleveland on July 22^nd. We had lunch with Pat Taylor, Director of Faces and Voices of Recovery ,and visited the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Lindsey Reports:

In Cleveland, the YPR mission was to for the 38 high school and college students attending (16-27) to begin thinking about how to organize a national movement for recovery. My mission was to share my story about how activism impacted my life and recovery. Activism has given me a new purpose in life and voice to inspire others. Being an activist has also given me the opportunity to meet people all over the country, who are working for same things I am. They all have something special to contribute, some new information, and I am lucky to call many of them friends now.

But the best part of being an activist is getting the chance to speak to young people and let them know how incredibly important they are for the future of recovery. It is only with their help that we can change the image of recovery by showing that more people are getting sober younger and staying sober. Like any cause we need the fresh young faces and original ideas of our youth. Having the opportunity to share my experience, strength and hope with this group was a true pleasure and my message to them was simple—get involved, stay involved and it will help you stay sober. As anyone in recovery will confirm, everyone is stronger and safer in a group fighting for something than floating around on our own.

Filming The Silent Majority Leslie Reports:

As soon as we returned to Florida, filming began for the Silent Majority. We had a great time in Northport, filming D-FY, and learning about the drug free youth program. In Northport a community with 10,000 students, we were very impressed by brand new Morgan Family Community Center where teens have a safe place to gather. We filmed some members of Northport High School ROTC, who did an impromptu flash dance for us, and talked to Northport officials and teens in the program, and will return to Film Drug sniffing Duke and his K9 handler who have reduced arrests at Northport High School by 70% just by being there.

On August 1^st, we had the honor and privilege of filming interviews with Carl and Cindy Weinrich and Cindy and Tara Harney, in which they honored the memories of their precious sons lost to prescription pills, which is now a leading cause of death in high school and college age young people.  Cindy Harney is the co-founder of FAADA, Families Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse, an advocacy group with growing influence that has already impacted pill mill laws in Florida. As Cindy Harney pointed out, in this country people are more concerned about manatees and salmon than they are about their children.

On August 3^rd, we filmed Teen Court of Sarasota County. We learned that Teen Court nationwide has more teen volunteers than any other program. In Sarasota and Venice, it has been in operation for 23 years and positively impacts the lives of literally thousands of young offenders and volunteers each year.

On August 10^th we will appear on Daytime, a national TV program, broadcast on 100 NBC affiliate stations nationwide, talking about our documentary, The Secret World of Recovery.

On August 19th we will film Road Recovery in New York.

The Silent Majority

The Silent Majority is a feature documentary about teens 13 to 19 in successful addiction prevention and recovery programs for the vast audience of young people and their parents and grandparents, as well as addiction and recovery professionals across the nation looking for tools to engage this vulnerable population. This film will highlight local and national programs that are working to help teens live tobacco, drug and alcohol free. The objective is to create an addiction prevention tool to help millions of at risk teens and their families, and to use entertainment to broaden the platform for Recovery Awareness and help recovery become a national priority. Please contribute to the ROR film fund and help us finish the film. We can’t do this important work without your help. A $25 contribution will show you care about the nation’s young people.

Rock and Run For Recovery

Plans are all set for our two-day event Oct. 21/22. We will have the first rock concert on South Lido Beach, and the first 5k run walk on South Lido Beach. More details next week.

Here’s Some Good News From the ROR Corner

Film Festivals

The Secret World of Recovery is entered in 7 film festival competitions and the International Documentary Awards. If you know people in the film festival world, put in a good word for us. We’re not supposed to toot our own horn.

Speaking Engagements

Lindsey has been invited to present at the SAMSHA Youth Recovery Conference in Cleveland on July 20^th. She’s going to talk about recovery advocacy to high school and college students from around the country who are gathering to plan the National Youth Recovery Movement which will be launched by SAMHSA next spring in Washington.

Donations

In the month of June Reach Out Recovery was very proud to make its first donations from proceeds received for the April Awards dinner at Michael’s On East. Claudia Coville’s program Mentor For Success Prison Program at JFCS received $2500. Families Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse received $1000. First Step received $1000 for its Youth Outpatient program, and the Salvation Army received $1000 for the Center of Hope.

Events

In the fall ROR is raising the stakes and we hope a lot more money. ROR is planning an even bigger event than the first one at the Van Wezel. This time, to help local prevention and recovery programs, on Fri., October 21^st, ROR will present a free rock concert, food expo, and artisan festival on South Lido Beach. The first non profit event to be held at that beautiful Sarasota venue. How will we make money? The following morning on Saturday October 22^nd there will be a run/walk on the beach to celebrate recovery. We hope that people will find sponsors for their walk/runs and raise lots of good will and money for the cause. I will not be running. I’m a walker, in it purely for the barbecue and more music on the beach at noon. (the food is not free, the music is). To volunteer or be a sponsor of these two exciting events, email us, or call the office 356-0173.

WASHINGTON TRIP

Last week Lindsey and I were in Washington at the Faces and Voices of Recovery Awards ceremony and party at the Washington Club, where we met FAVOR board members, Congressmen, and recovery advocates from all over. There’s a lot happening in the recovery world that the general public doesn’t know about. We will begin reporting soon.

While we were in Washington, Dick Lobo, who is the Director of the International Broadcasting Bureau, arranged for a VIP tour of Voice of America for us. We were there for hours. VOA has the biggest newsroom in the world. 30,000 square feet and 26 miles of cables. Reports come in from 122 stations around the world. The studios run 24/7. VOAnews never sleeps. At 11am we saw a show broadcasting live to the tribal areas of Afghanistan about women’s rights. In another studio we visited Border Crossing, a music show has an audience of 120 million. It’s probably the biggest call-in request show in the world. Commercial free. At Hip Hop Connection, there was a live performance by Ife.  She is a singer based in New York. We had our picture taken with her. We also met a Persian satirist who does a Persian Version of the John Stewart Show. We didn’t understand a word, but the government of Iran is absolutely seething. Six shows have been created in Iran to counter it. Serious reporting to Tibet and China, Pakistan, the Middle East, Somalia was being broadcast while we were there. It was very exciting to see international reporting by foreign nationals for their own countries. Hundreds of Millions of people around the world cannot rely on the news they receive from their own countries. They listen to VOAnews on shortwave radios and the internet. There are even shows that use only 1000 English words for people who have no other way to learn English. We can’t get VOAnews on the radio or TV in the US yet because a law was passed during the cold war to prevent it. But you can go to VOAnews.com on line. It’s a great place to see the world.

Our New Film, The Silent Majority

ROR is sponsoring a new film. The Silent Majority is a Rock Documentary about teen programs that are working to help kids live drug, alcohol, and tobacco free. The project is listed on Indiegogo.com.  Can a good cause  raise funds directly from total strangers?  On Indiegogo, people can give a dollar, or a hundred dollars, or ten thousand dollars. It’s just a fun way to contribute to something you care about. Indiegogo is a very cool site offering all kinds of giving opportunities to donors looking for projects to fund. You can also contribute to the film fund on the Reach Out Recovery site. And get a dog tag or a Tee Shirt. Check out Film Fund. Or donate to ROR and we will choose the cause. Only money designated to the film fun will be used for the film.

Here’s Why Teens Need a Film To Show Life Without Drugs.

Today the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA at Columbia University) released its report: Adolescent Substance Use: America’s #1 Health Problem.

“Because the adolescent brain is still developing, teens are more likely to take risks like smoking, drinking or using other drugs, and are more sensitive to the damaging and addictive properties of these drugs. The report documents that the critical period for preventing the initiation of substance use and its extensive, devastating and costly health and social consequences is adolescence.

The report examines how American culture increases the risk that teens will use addictive substances and how the messages sent by adults, and glamorized by the tobacco and alcohol industries and the media, normalize substance use and undermine the health and futures of our teens.