National Overdose Day - We have a lot of work to do

Long before there was facebook or twitter, I lost my first friend to an overdose. I was a sophomore in high school when Ross Shalenberg passed away after mixing alcohol with valium. Today, I remember him for the carefree, fun loving kid that he was. He was too young to drive, but not too young to use. He grew up in a family where neither his mother or father was sober. His father was mean when he drank, and I can remember us talking about that while using together. He was trying to numb himself from the abuse he received daily, while I was using to try and escape abuse that had happened earlier in life. I do know that the only times I would see him laugh was when we were using. 

My Superman (Happy Father's Day)

In this day and age, there needs to be more superheroes. I know that this may seem like an absurd statement, when there seems to be a new superhero movie released every other week at the theater and there are everyday heroes who step up when others will not. Those are the people that I am talking about, not the ones with the spandex tight suits, but the guys who step up and do what should be done when there are so many others who refuse to do the right thing.

I am a Hope Dealer! Are You?

I am a hope dealer!

"What is a hope dealer," you ask?

A hope dealer is someone who has been down a rough path. Whether it was horrible things that happened to them or negative choices they made leading to even worse choices until one day they find themselves doing things they never would have imagined and enduring evils no man or woman should have to.

Leaving a Legacy

I really want to share with you a couple of the lessons I learned long ago that completely changed my life. You see, I used to look at the lives of others and feel cheated. I would see the amazing vacations they went on the fun things they did and get jealous. I disliked people simply because they were from families that had money. Then one day, I woke up and realized a few things.

KOLR 10 Story on the Heroin Crisis in Southwest Missouri

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- More people in the United States are now dying from heroin and opioid overdoses than car accidents. That makes it the leading cause of injury-related death in our nation, according to the CDC.

David Stoecker is no stranger to addiction.

CARA 2016: A Call to Action

If you were wondering who CARA is, I have an answer for you. First, it is not a who but a what. CARA stands for the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act. It is the largest federal, bipartisan legislation to date for addiction support services, with $40-80 million toward advancing recovery  support and treatment services in local communities and states across the country with the goal of saving countless lives and addressing the opioid/heroin crisis we currently find ourselves in.

The Springfield Recovery Community Center: Our Current Needs

The last time I wrote I discussed the upcoming Recovery Community Center that will be opening with limited hours in Springfield on May 1^st. To read about what that is and what it will provide for the Springfield community, please read the blog I wrote: Springfield Community Center: Hope Starts Here Find out more about all Better Life in Recovery does here.  

We have multiple needs to enable the community center to help the community the way we want it to. Today I am going over the needs we have that when met will allow us to offer all of the activities, events and meetings we want to offer. I would ask that you read this list and share it with anyone who might be able to help us meet these needs.

Here are the items we need: