VOLUME 6, ISSUE 3 HOPE - CHOICE - EMPOWERMENT - RECOVERY CULTURE - SPIRITUALITY
MARCH 2014
March 2014
March is Spiritual
Wellness Month
Words on Spiritual Wellness
“Just as candle cannot burn without
fire, men cannot live without a
spiritual life.” ~ Buddha
“If we are to go forward, we must go
back and rediscover those precious
values—that all reality hinges on
moral foundations and that all
reality has spiritual control.”
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
“We are not human beings having a
spiritual experience. We are
spiritual beings having a human
experience. “
~Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
“Great men are they who see that
spiritual is stronger than any
material force—that thoughts rule
the world.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Man has two great spiritual needs.
One is for forgiveness. The other is
for goodness.” ~ Billy Graham
So how do you rate your Spiritual
Wellness?
Ways to examine your Spiritual Wellness
include asking yourself:
1. How accepting am I of others?
2. Am I able to forgive other people?
3. Am I able to forgive myself?
4. Do I help serve my community?
5. Do I feel fulfilled?
This month is recognized as being
Spiritual Wellness Month. It may be the
nudge we all can use to explore our
Spiritual Wellness and its connection to
our mind, body and spirit.
What Is Spiritual Wellness?
Spiritual Wellness can mean many
different things to someone. Many
automatically connect spirituality to their
religious beliefs, whatever that happens
to be. However, spiritual wellness can
simply be connecting to the world
around you and discovering meaning
and purpose in your life.
Recovery Innovations describes Spiritual
Wellness as:
6. Do I participate in spiritual activities?
7. Do I feel a harmony between what is
inside me and outside forces?
How can you further explore your own
Spiritual Wellness?
Spiritual Wellness is one of the 9
Dimensions of Wellness here at Recovery
Innovations. The Certified Peer Support
Specialists that staff our programs are
here to support you with maintaining and
growing your wellness.
Come Join Us in Exploring Your Own Spiritual
Wellness by participating at:
HOPE Station Wellness City in Greenville, NC
Spiritual Wellness on Wednesdays

Spiritual Wellness involves finding
meaning and purpose in life
Wellness City of New Bern in New Bern, NC
Spirituality and Values in Wellness on Fridays

Integrating one’s spiritual beliefs and
values with one’s actions
Durham Wellness City in Durham, NC
Forgiveness & Letting Go on Thursdays

Enhancing the connection between
mind, body and spirit
For more information, contact your local
Recovery Innovations program or call Recovery
Innovations at 1-866-481-5361.
Community Connections
Recovery Innovations extends heartfelt THANKS and
APPRECIATION to the organizations that provide class locations,
presentations, services and referrals.
Our connections with others, provide opportunities and
environments that empower people to recover, to succeed in
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MARCH 2014
Wellness City Voice
HOPE Station Wellness City:
Awakening the Spirit Within
Greetings from HOPE Station Wellness City to you out there! My name is Letrecia Edwards but everyone here at HSWC
calls me Trish. I was reminded that March was a “Spiritual Wellness Month”. So I am once again here to share some
things about what I love about “Awakening the Spirit Within”, a class I have facilitated here at HOPE Station. I am here
to be real and true. With that said, I love all of the classes here but, of course. like most of us I have those that I really
love. These are the classes that I can relate to the most on both a professional and personal level.
“Awakening the Spirit Within” is one class I really enjoy facilitating. I first heard about this when I was a citizen here at
HOPE Station. I was asked by my recovery coach to attend the class just to see if I liked it. And low and behold I loved it!
So of course, when I began to take the steps to become a Peer Support Specialist here at HOPE Station, this was one of
the first classes that I became more familiar with. Before this class became a part of my life I was lost spiritually which
made me lost in general. I began to search for what was meant for me and how to accept the bad things. This class
showed me that I was missing a big part of my life. I was missing a way to be positive and accept myself. Now today any
time I facilitate “Awakening the Spirit Within” I feel a peace and I pray within myself that someone can get for
themselves what I got for myself.
Through my spiritual beliefs (connection to God) and the recovery education I have received here at HOPE Station, it is
easier to deal with the challenges that arise in my life and appreciate the good times even more. I have found a church
family that fits me. I am hopeful now. Yes, I do continue to have those negative things that lay dormant in my life but I
am happier now than I ever been because I am willing to fight against those negative things to maintain my joy.
I continue to work hard for my happiness and this class showed me that it is the simple things that make me happy. I
would love to think that I will always maintain my mental wellness by focusing on my spiritual wellness but I know that
bad things happen. I now have some tools that will help me get through the tough times. I need supports in my life. God
is my first support and He let me know that I cannot be alone I need fellowship. “Awakening the Spirit Within” led me
back to connecting with my true self and God.
By: Letrecia Edwards
Certified Peer Support Specialist
HOPE Station Wellness City
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MARCH 2014
Wellness City Voice
Community Building Team - Our Journey
April Wynkoop, Peer Recovery Coach and Tyrun Brown, Community Building Participant
My name is April Wynkoop and I am a Recovery Coach/CPSS and a WRAP facilitator for Recovery
Innovations Community Building Program. I am part of an incredible team of people that consists of Jim
Harrison, an amazing team leader, Jennifer Marshall, Bryan Creech and Monica Miller. What makes our
team incredible to me is that we all share the same desire to support and empower the people we serve
to be successful in their recovery and transition back into the community. We have an incredibly large
task in helping the people we serve to overcome the stigmas and labels from mental health challenges
and I feel so truly blessed to be walking side by side with them as they re-gain their independence and
get their voices back. It has been a privilege and honor to be working side by side with the amazing
ECBH transition team as well and I can’t say enough about Kim Talbot and Ann Holland. They are two
amazing, compassionate and empathetic woman. It is truly an amazing journey that I am on, that I am
able to use my past experience and use my own WRAP as part of my job. Who could really ask for
anything more? Today I am truly blessed and thankful for this opportunity that I have been given and I
am looking forward to our continued work as we support others as they transition back into the
community.
My name is Tyrun Brown and I have been able to move out on my own for the first time in 5
years. If it weren’t for ECBH, Kim Talbot, Ann Holland and April I would not be where I am
today, they have helped me so much. I was able to move out of the adult care home that I was in,
and now I am living in my own apartment, which is such a good feeling! I know that if I keep
doing the right thing, everything will be ok for me. One thing that I learned by taking WRAP with
April is that I have a wellness toolbox that I can use every day to help me stay well and living in
my own apartment. I want to thank everyone that had something to do with helping me see that I
could live on my own.
Submitted by: April Wynkoop
Peer Recovery Coach
Community Building East Carolina
April Wynkoop
Peer Recovery Coach
April Wynkoop, PRC
with Tyrun Brown,
CB Participant
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Wellness City Voice
MARCH2014
Peer Employment Training & Graduation In New Bern!
January 27th to February 7th Wellness City of New Bern sponsored and hosted our annual Recovery Innovations’ Peer Employment Training or PET!,
as everyone comes to affectionately call it. Wellness City of New Bern sponsors PET every January. The training is given to persons that have lived
experience with a psychiatric or substance use struggles, or both, who have progressed sufficiently in their recovery journey that they now feel
comfortable and ready to support others to move forward in recovery from their own struggles. This is a big step for persons who feel that they
have had significant victory over their many times lifelong struggles. It is big because most folks have spent the majority of their lives managing
solely their own situations and challenges, but now are feeling they have enough experience, strength and hope to support others to achieve lives
of meaning and purpose similar to what they have achieved themselves.
Once that decision has been made, a new journey has just begun! It would many times seem to be enough to merely sit with a struggling person
and simply be present with their suffering, and to hold the hope for them until they became empowered to develop their own hope for solutions and
a positive future. The Behavioral Health world, however, has begun in the last several years to see this personal experience and empathy as a
highly refined skill capable of creating a true behavioral health professional who can perform a real and paid service. The State of North Carolina
has developed standards of training for approval of college-level professional pre-vocational training. Recovery Innovations was one of the first
companies in the country to develop and utilize a detailed and comprehensive curriculum that is approved by the State to train folks to become
North Carolina Certified Peer Support Specialists (CPSS). PET is the first step in that certification process! The PET held here at Wellness City
requires students to attend eighty(80) hours of instruction over a full two week period, 8 hours a day! There is a mid-term and final exam and an
80% correct requirement for graduation! All that to say this is serious and intensive professional training that requires you to remember your
strengths and your struggles, and to begin to see them as your “credentials” that qualify you to professionally serve others in a treatment setting
like Wellness City for Wellness Education and Individual Peer Supports (IPS), or other provider services that also utilize Peer Supports.
The Behavioral Health professional community has embraced Peer Supports as an evidence-based
practice and is constantly encouraging and supporting its rapid growth as a paid service. As an example
of that commitment, we were so fortunate to have Sarah Gray, Director of Community Development for
East Carolina Behavioral Health (ECBH), the Managed Care Organization (MCO) for Eastern North Carolina
serving 19 counties, come and share with us as our guest speaker. Ms. Gray gave the Peer Graduates the
“view from the top” about Peer Supports and the MCO’s view of it as an emerging best practice and
expanding service. Ms. Gray told the candidates that the MCO’s commitment to supporting the
development and growth of Peer Supports was permanent and promising. The graduates were truly
energized and encouraged to hear this from the leader and management organization for all behavioral
health services in our region, and we at Recovery Innovations are so grateful ECBH was willing to come
and share our enthusiasm and the graduates’ significant accomplishment.
Additionally, Ron England, Program Director for Crossroads Psychiatric Hospital located within Carolina
East Medical Center here in New Bern, came and spoke with us about the hospital’s view of Peer Supports
and Wellness Recovery Action Planning (WRAP), one of the primary best practice tools Peer Specialists use
to support individuals in maintaining symptoms, avoiding relapse, and planning for crisis management. Wellness City has been utilizing Peer
Support Specialist from our staff on a volunteer basis for many months now to go the hospital and give IPS and hope to patients, support for
developing plans for a successful discharge and re-entry into their homes, families, and community. This experimental program has been very
successful in reducing return visits to the hospital and in creating lasting and healing connections for the people we serve. Ron England made that
program possible because he has seen the positive and lasting outcomes from professional Peer Supports, and we are truly grateful for his faith in
our Peers and the real faith he imparted to our PET graduates! All in all, it was a great training, a great graduation, a great day for the validation of
Recovery, and also a whole lot of fun!... J Thanks to all!!!...
By: Bill Barrow
Cell# 252.422.4339
Recovery Services Administrator
Wellness City of New Bern &
Community Building ENC
Bill Barrow, RSA with
PET Graduate, Meredith Davis
2014 Wellness City of New Bern PET Graduates
with PET Facilitator, Ann Emmerich
Sarah Gray
Director of Community Development
ECBH
Ron England
Program Director
Crossroads Psychiatric Hospital
Wellness City Voice
MARCH 2014
5
Where in the World is Recovery Joe?
“Recovery Joe” joined the East Carolina Outreach Team in September of 2013. He was brought on board to travel with the Outreach
Team Members throughout our 19-County Catchment area, and then tell about his experiences in his monthly column in the
Wellness City Voice newsletter.
Good Day Eastern North Carolina!!!
My travels this month took me to Pamlico County. Ann Emmerich, one of the Outreach
Coordinators, is the person responsible for setting up Recovery Education Classes in this
wonderful County as well as facilitating the classes she sets up.
Ann Emmerich
Ann has a lot of history working with Community Partners such as: Pamlico County Outreach Coordinator
Center for Human Services, Pamlico County Health Department and the FaithBased Community. Referrals generated by these Community Partners has led to Recovery Innovations
providing classes starting in 2010 and continuing to date. So far, Pamlico County has had three WRAP
Classes, two WELL classes, one Medication for Success class and many, many weeks of classes we
call “Recovery Learning Circles”, which cover a variety of topics pertaining to maintaining Recovery
and Wellness.
One long term Citizen of these various classes, who chooses to only be identified by initials, had this to
say about her experience with the Recovery Innovations Recovery Education classes:
“Our Learning Circle has become like a “support group” for me. Having the classes nearby has
afforded me the opportunity to attend regularly. I continue to feel more Confident that I can handle
situations as they arise. Thank You, RI.” ~M.A.H.
Ann is looking forward to seeing you on Tuesdays at 10:00 am at Bayboro United Methodist Church.
Ann can be reached at 252-886-1104, if you would like more information.
By: Susan Hall
Team Lead
Outreach Wellness City
.
This is me helping to scribe during a Recovery
Learning Circle where we discussed the topic of
“Staying Resilient” that is one of the 52 topics
covered in the Recovery Innovations curriculum,
“Keeping Recovery Skills Alive.”
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Wellness City Voice
MARCH 2014
Durham Wellness City: “Beyond the Border”
Wellness City of Durham is offering the class, “Beyond the Border”. In this class, we focus on recovery from
personality challenges, specifically those experienced among people with the diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder
(BPD). Together we work on dispelling myths and misperceptions about persons who have been given this much
stigmatized diagnosis. We are celebrating each other as unique and authentic selves and are learning to embrace our
differences.
Recovery is real for all of us and we hold the hope for each other as we share our personal stories of taking on
challenges related to the BPD diagnosis. Coping skills are discussed and success with the use of these in our everyday
lives is shared. We have discussed the areas that often present challenges including, self-love, trust, anger and
forgiveness. Our own experiences with these challenges, and the coping mechanisms that we put in place to overcome
them, are shared weekly among the class members. Treatment options available today are introduced and the benefits
are shared and discussed. Some members of the class do not have the experience of living with clinically attached
labels, while others do. However, challenges with trust, self-love, anger, etc., are common to many of us and everyone is
able to benefit from the discussions. Together we are embracing our similarities and learning how to support each other
in our recovery journeys. The best description of this class, and its impact on our personal recovery journey, comes from
citizens who are active participants in it:
Hi! My name is Ronda Johnson. I am a citizen at Wellness City. I’m currently taking a course on
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). I have a family member with the diagnosis of BPD. While here,
I’ve learned that my son is a person, not a diagnosis. I’ve also learned how to cope with him having the
BPD diagnosis by using coping skills that we’ve both learned about in class.
Shaquana says: Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) means to me, it means different kinds of
disorders in your brain. I have BPD and the way I cope is to use my coping skills such as mindfulness,
listening to music and others. I learned people with BPD are not victims, they are just human. “Beyond
the Border” helps me realize that I am not a victim. I am just like everyone else. I also learned different
kinds of symptoms such as self-harm and that you also could deal with that by using DBT (dialectical
behavioral therapy). DBT deals with different kinds of coping skills. That’s what I use and it helps as
long as you use it. “Beyond the Border” is making me feel more confident about myself such as opening
up more and using my coping skills in situations when I need it.
By: Kim Chansen
Recovery Services Administrator
Durham Wellness City
Wellness City Voice
MARCH 2014
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Spiritual Awareness
There is a very large difference between “Spirituality” and “Religion” and it is very common for
many people to lump them together into being one and the same. Some have said that
spirituality comes from religion but I must say that I have met people who are very Spiritual
and do not lay claim to any religion.
In the WELL (Wellness and Empowerment in Life and Living) classes offered by Recovery
Innovations, session #5 is titled as “Spirituality”. In the workbook, it says that it adds “meaning
and purpose” in the table of contents. We begin the class with our expression of what is
spirituality? The first two are my favorite. We say spirituality is: One’s ultimate values and It
connects us to our sense of meaning and purpose.
I love these two expressions of what spirituality is because for me they are so very true. My
values and character are part of my inner strength and desire to do what is right. Not just in
my eyes but in the eyes of a higher power that guides me and helps me along the way.
Because of my spirituality I have been able to connect to my sense of meaning and purpose in
life. This for me is to be available to others in the event that I may be able to encourage them
to find the hope they may need to begin a journey of recovery.
Our mission statement says it all and is one of the main reasons I have been a peer support
specialist with RI for almost 5 years now. Our mission statement is on most all of our
marketing material, even on the back of our business cards. We here at RI create opportunities
and environments to empower people to recover. With those opportunities and the
environments, it provides us with the ability to call on our spirituality with all our love and hope
that we carry for others if they need us to. We empower people to succeed in accomplishing
their goal and to connect to themselves and others and meaning and purpose in life.
Spirituality is one of the 5 recovery pathways that have been the keys for many in their journey
of recovery, me included. I can only speak for myself, and what I have found and often share is;
Without Spirituality I would have been able to hold on to my Hope, my Choices would have
continued to harm others and myself, I would have not been Empowered to create a Recovery
Environment and culture that would sustain my recovery.
The beauty of all this is that I truly appreciate working for a company that understands the
value of my spirituality and knows the importance it plays for others.
By: Donny Hakes
Outreach Coordinator
Outreach Wellness City
.
MARCH 2014
Wellness City Voice
Our Mission
To create opportunities and environments that
empower people to recover, to succeed in
accomplishing their goals, and to reconnect with
themselves, others and meaning and purpose in
life.
Recovery Innovations
Is a nonprofit organization offering recovery-based
services in Arizona, California, Delaware, North
Carolina, Washington and New Zealand.
www.RecoveryInnovations.org
Durham Wellness City
401 E. Lakewood Avenue, Suite E1-A
Durham, NC 27707
Phone: 919-687-4041
Kim Chansen, RSA: 919-702-3314
Hope Station Wellness City
2407 S. Memorial Drive
Greenville, NC 27834
Phone: 252-321-0179
Sonia Tucker, RSA: 252-558-8034
Wellness City of New Bern
1311 Health Drive
New Bern, NC 28560
Phone: 252-672-8781
Bill Barrow, RSA: 252-422-4339
Community Building Team
Bill Barrow, RSA: 252-422-4339
Jim Harrison, Team Lead: 252-702-2804
AND
Outreach Wellness City
Susan Hall, Team Lead: 252-876-3645
Bertie, Gates, Hertford, Martin, & Northampton Counties
Donny Hakes, Outreach Coordinator: 252-481-4010
Beaufort, Hyde, Jones, Pamlico & Washington Counties
Ann Emmerich, Outreach Coordinator: 252-886-1104
Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Pasquotank,
Perquimans & Tyrrell Counties
Ron Lowe, Outreach Coordinator: 252-702-6515
Recovery Innovations has earned the
Joint Commission’s
Gold Seal of Approval™
Find our Wellness City Voice Newsletters, as well as our monthly class Calendars online
at www.RecoveryInnovations.org/rinc