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(Red Deer Recovery Day)
sept. 10 at city hall park

Banishing stigma the goal of Red Deer Recovery Day

Sep 9, 2022 | 9:32 AM

Krista Black is now 15 years free of the addiction she struggled with for 13 years, something that began in her early teens.

This Saturday, Black has organized the 10th annual Red Deer Recovery Day, an event and movement she started a decade ago.

The event’s mission has always been and remains to educate, advocate and celebrate recovery for all addictions, says Black.

What that means, she explains, is that advocates know addiction destroys individuals and families, and dampens community, while recovery revitalizes those things.

“We’re hear to say let’s talk more openly about it, and get rid of the stigma,” says Black. “If people experiencing addiction feel less judgement, less fear, and aren’t worried how people will think of or look at them, they have less of a problem admitting they have a problem, and getting help.”

As for options to achieve recovery — defined as not only an endpoint, but the journey to get there — Black says there are lots. Where it gets frustrating, however, is navigating the system, she says.

“Say somebody admits they have a problem and acknowledges they need treatment. Treatment facilities often say you can get in in three months, which is frustrating already because when someone in this scenario says they need help, they need it that day,” Black says.

“They may change their mind and then be too afraid to go when the time finally comes. Also, they may die waiting. The other thing treatment centres often require is that a person has five days of clean time in order to get an interview, and then after they have to stay clean until they get into treatment. That’s a long time for someone who uses every day. If someone could stop for that amount of time, they wouldn’t need treatment.”

Black praises other 12-step programs and treatment options, as well as Turning Point Society for having the compassion that all should have, she says.

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“Ignoring people who use drugs doesn’t make them go away. Chastising doesn’t help either. It perpetuates the shame, which perpetuates the using, and then avoidance of dealing with real life,” says Black.

“It’s important we open up a public forum on this and make it a normal, non-shameful conversation. We need this so you can say to your sister, neighbour or cousin, ‘Hey, I’ve been struggling with alcohol or other substances, pills, or what have you.’ Then that person can say they’re willing to help or share the resources they’re aware of.”

In the event’s earlier days, Black called bringing awareness in this way a movement; a movement in part, that is, to personally open a local recovery centre.

COVID put a damper on that movement, though in the meantime, the Red Deer Dream Centre has taken steps towards opening, and the province has announced a treatment community on the city’s north end.

Black hopes her work in prior years contributed to showing the need for those things, and she can still see possibly opening the doors to a sort of community centre for people in recovery.

“When I first used as a teenager, it was a choice, and it spiraled, as it can for many people, without me even noticing, to the point where I was addicted,” she recalls.

“Just because I or someone initially makes that choice doesn’t mean we don’t deserve help.”

Red Deer Recovery Day is happening Saturday, Sept. 10 from 12-3 p.m. at City Hall Park.

Recovery Day was first observed in Sept. 2012 in Vancouver, then became a fixture in 12 Canadian cities the next year, and spread to many more since.