[Applause]
thank you
good afternoon i'm honored to welcome
you
all to the white house today for this
special event
honoring americans in recovery and the
incredible organizations
that support them i'm grateful to
our office of national drug control
policy
and to director jim carroll thank you
for organizing this important discussion
i'm also glad to be joined today by
larry carlo
director of the united states economic
council
thank you and our surgeon general jerome
adams hello before i get started
i would also like to thank catherine
burgum
the first lady of north dakota thank you
for joining us today
as well as patty mccarty the ceo of
faces
and voices of recovery whose
organization
is playing a key role throughout
september commemorating recovery month
around the united states
today we are here to highlight two
important themes
in recovery the power of recovery tools
and resources
in the workplace and the role personal
connection to others plays in achieving
sobriety these themes are also shared in
my best initiative
which promotes healthy relationships
strong families
and supporting the people and programs
in our communities
that give children their best chance to
succeed
finding solutions to our nation's drug
problem
has always been something i've cared
deeply about
especially when it comes to its negative
effects
on children and families in my time as
first lady
i have traveled to hospitals and
rehabilitation centers
around the country and have seen the
devastating results
of drug abuse and addiction i have
learned that addiction and drug abuse
are universal issues that do not
discriminate based on income
age race or wherever you live
i believe that promoting education and
awareness
on this issue is critical to overcoming
this terrible trend
which is why i'm joining you here today
the coronavirus pandemic has increased
feelings
of loneliness and sadness for vulnerable
populations
it has also increased the risk of
substance abuse
but the american people are strong and
always set up to help one another
in times of need my husband
and this administration are also
committed to making sure
no one is left behind and forgotten men
and women
are not forgotten no more
the guests we have with us today are
shining examples
of how we can uplift our communities
businesses large and small are
represented at this event
each of them share a commitment and
understanding
that economic empowerment and the
feeling of purpose
play an important role in creating
sustained sobriety
these are the facts of recovery at work
and i'm inspired
by each of your stories you're not just
job creators
you empower the human spirit
i want to thank all of you again for
your outstanding work
and making our communities a much
stronger
and accepting place for all americans
thank you very much and now i would like
to turn back
over to director carol thank you
[Applause]
thank you mrs trump for your continued
dedication to this cause
i have a great honor now of introducing
you
to some new friends but these are
friends of mine that are here today
and but i think it's only fitting that
we start with prayer
and so the first friend that i would
like to introduce everyone to
is reverend jan brown and reverend brown
is the executive director of the global
recovery initiatives
she's the executive director of the
spirit works foundation
she serves as the chairperson of the
board of directors
of faces and voices of recovery which
we'll hear more about in a few minutes
and she's also been appointed by the
presiding bishop of the episcopalian
church
to serve on the commission of impairment
and leadership
robert brown would you please lead us
let us pray god of all creation
we give you thanks for this glorious day
we give you thanks for the opportunity
to come together
to listen to one another and to share
hopes and dreams and possibilities
as they relate to issues of recovery in
the workplace
we know that purpose and meaning are
pillars of recovery
help us be faithful stewards and
intercessors
for all in need of meaningful work
engaging with goodwill in this spirited
dialogue
we ask that you allow the conversation
to unravel organically
that our differences not get in the way
that we be fully present are we are here
to do
your work in this world we know that in
you all things are possible
kindle in us your holy fire to allow us
to be brave
and bold and courageous around this
important topic
we pray for those who continue to suffer
with covet 19 and their families and
friends and those who are caring for
them
we pray for those who are struggling
with economic financial
health racial and housing insecurities
and ask that you be with them to remove
their fears
and increase their reliance on you we
give thanks for the celebration of
recovery month
honoring the millions of lives that have
been restored because of recovery
the families that have been reunited and
the communities that are now thriving
we know that there are many in our midst
who continue their struggles
be with them now let them know that you
are ever present
and only a breath away we pray for those
who have died from overdose and other
addiction related causes
we pray for treatment centers advocacy
organizations
recovery organizations and all those
working to end
and to serve those who are in or working
toward recovery
throughout this difficult season of
covet 19 and the ongoing addiction
epidemic
remind us to maintain and celebrate our
connections
help us to always remember that we are
the face and voice of recovery
in this country and beyond we pray for
the leaders gathered here
that you would inspire us to find
solutions
that promote health and healing for all
who have been affected by substance use
disorders
and any other addictions and that you
would equip us with the will
and the skills to make those solutions a
reality
continue in us the good work you have
begun in your holy name we pray
amen amen
thank you reverend brown for that
beautiful prayer and
when we first met one of the first
things that i did was ask her to pray
for me
and for the office on this issue that we
could continue
to be led and guided to do the right
thing
and so in addition to faith leading us
and of course the first lady being the
north star to always do the right thing
we've also been blessed at the white
house with larry kudlow
he should be smiling but i don't think
that he is right now
um in addition to being always a calm
and reassuring voice and as the lead
for the economic council here and the
leading person really in the united
states on economic issues
larry is well known to all but one thing
i don't think is very well known
and i sincerely appreciate larry coming
forward today
to be part of this but larry just
celebrated his 25th year
in recovery and so larry congratulations
okay thank you appreciate it very much
um many thanks to the first lady
i am larry kudlow i just had a 25th
sober anniversary
on july 1. and
i don't want to say too much my story
has been out there for
for many years
i would just say that when the president
and the first lady
offered me this position which is the
greatest honor of my professional life
and i've stayed a lot longer than
probably a lot of people thought it
would
it would not have been possible it would
not have been remotely possible
it would have been unthinkable that i
could
occupy such a job
25 years ago unthinkable
i was a hopeless abuser
of alcohol and drugs
i had tried several times unsuccessfully
to get sober
like a lot of my peers and friends
i went through bloody hell and suffered
significant consequences i'm not alone
most of us had the same troubles
and i was unemployable
but by the grace of god i did stay
married
my wife as a saint judy
i've said that before i'll repeat it
we've been married 34 years it's a
miracle
but it was difficult the whole story was
difficult
having said that i will offer this
it is because of my
stubbornness and willfulness and the
difficulties and consequences
and the fact that i had to learn how to
change
my behavior
and follow a few simple steps or
guidelines
i believe sincerely today
that it probably was the best thing that
ever happened to me
because it forced me to change and seek
a new path
and return to faith
i might not have said it at the time
but more and more i've come to realize
it down through the years
and so it's an honor for me to be with
fellow
suffering alcoholics and
employers and i will just say to you you
know
you will you can get sober
you can for those who are still sick and
suffering
you can it's not easy but you can get
sober and you can stay sober and you can
lead a productive life
and most importantly hopefully like
myself
we can learn to help other people
get sober and stay sober so they can be
productive
and contribute to society and to life
i think it's a phenomenal thing that the
first lady
has engaged herself in this battle
phenomenal but you're pretty phenomenal
and you know i've said that and actually
written that in columns down through the
years
so it is my pleasure and honor to be
here with you today
the president has been remarkable i've
known him many years
he brought me into this position i
didn't ask for it
i've served him to the best of my
ability he's been remarkable to me
accessible we have great discussions
sometimes even debates
he's a remarkable man and
if i get time off for good behavior and
write another book i'm going to write
about that
because i sincerely believe it
but i'll also say this
drawing from what the first lady said
about loneliness and sadness
there's nothing as bad as that
you're trying to do good but you can't
and for me and i will kind of borrow
paraphrase from the big book of
alcoholics anonymous
it became clear and clear in my life
that i was hopeless alcoholic
and it also became clear in my life that
no human power
could restore me to sanity
but i learned finally
that god could and would if he were
sought
and i sought him whether it's a higher
power
or some religious power the fact is
i had to acknowledge my problems my
frailties my powerlessness over drugs
and alcohol
and just start over with the help of
others
and to this day and i mean this truly to
this day
in my personal life i don't make
a single significant decision
alone because i have a track record of
making bad ones
instead i go to my friends
my sober friends and my wife
to get advice and suggestions and then i
follow them
and that's worked for me it may or may
not work for you i just put it out there
but it's worked for me left to my own
devices
it was ugly but
leaning and following the advice of
others and their sober wisdom has worked
for me
and i'm here helping out
with our team and you two can do exactly
the same thing i don't care what you do
for a living
doesn't matter this is a disease that
has remarkable equality
no matter who we are you can get it and
i got
um there isn't a day that goes by
that i don't think about
my alcoholism
there isn't a day that goes by that i
don't read my daily
meditation and prayer in the morning
there isn't a day that goes by
that i don't call or text one of my aaa
buddies
and there isn't a day that goes by that
i don't say the serenity prayer
not a day for 25 years why
because i have to that's all i need to
be reminded
of the main issue which is my sobriety
i may have good forecasts or bad
forecasts i may give the president good
advice or
less good advice but the one thing i do
without exception
is go through my meditations and the
serenity prayer and oftentimes if things
get a little intense around here
just occasionally i will say the
surrounding prayer again
it works it works if you work it
i hope you know that familiar phrase god
bless all of you um
i'm blessed i'm lucky but i'm blessed
that i discovered god i discovered a
higher power that i discovered 12-step
programs
and then i'm able to help out my fellow
alcoholics
my fellow countrymen
to give service it really is
pinnacle of my life i'm an old guy that
came late
but it's been great honestly it's been
great
my worst day my worst day
president can be yelling at me or
something goes wrong it doesn't matter
whatever my worst day
now is better than any day i had before
i got sober
and i mean that sincerely
so you can do it and to the
employers who are here and others um
give us a chance please give us a chance
that's all we ask and we will try to own
up to our responsibilities
and stay the road stay the path stay on
the right road
and help you i think recovering
alcoholics make great employees
myself
and that's what makes it such a great
thing that the first lady
and my pal jim and jerome have come to
help
in whatever capacity we're here official
personal whatever
it's very rare for people to do this
what you're doing man
so we love you for it we really
appreciate it
and if you'll permit me i'll just end
with this thought
god grant me the serenity
to accept the things i cannot change
the wisdom to know
the difference god bless all of you
and let's all stay on the happy road
of destiny as sober men and women
thank you ma'am
you can see where we all love larry and
love having him here
we're also blessed to have someone in
the administration
and i'm so blessed to have him as a
friend
we have the nation's doctor who is
firmly committed
to safeguarding the lives of all
americans
dr jerome adams also like all of us at
this table
and i think like so many of all
americans understand
what addiction can do to families
the pain that it has caused sometimes at
a funeral
sometimes at a hospital or a treatment
center
or sometimes at a jail cell
and so we're blessed not only to have
his expertise his
phenomenal medical training but someone
who understands the issue and someone
that i can call
as i frequently do on his cell phone
to say jerome what should we do
and he's always answered that call and
before i let you speak one of the first
things that you did
was recognize the importance of naloxone
and i see you have it sitting in front
of you and
for the first time in 13 years he issued
an
advisory to talk about this issue
so i now would like to introduce my
friend
and a friend to all americans our
surgeon general dr jerome adams
[Music]
[Applause]
well good afternoon everyone thank you
all for being here today
to lift up the lives that have been
affected by substance misuse all across
our country
especially during this incredibly unique
and challenging time i'm happy to be
here alongside my federal colleagues
and i got to tell you three years ago uh
when i took this job
i would have never predicted that two
old white guys
larry kudlow and jim carroll would be
two of my best friends
at the end of all this but they truly
truly are
and i i also have to give a shout out to
the passionate
and compassionate leadership of our
first lady
do you know how special it is to have a
first lady visit
women who are in a neonatal abstinence
syndrome
clinic that that's powerful when we talk
about
busting stigma that was a moment that i
will just
never forget and i will always
appreciate and thank you for because as
larry has said
far too many people for far too long
have felt unheard and you made
so many people across the country feel
worthy and feel heard simply by your
presence so
i just want to thank you for that and
i'm so happy to see the depth
and breadth of organizations around the
table and coming together here and every
day
to curb the many epidemics we're facing
in this country
viral chronic disease and of poly
substances
as you all know september is national
recovery month
and while the observance itself only
lasts a month
it sends an important message that you
serve as our guiding light all year long
that message the one larry powerfully
just uh
just helped us become a little bit more
familiar with
is that recovery is possible it's a
message that i try to carry with me
everywhere as i meet with individuals in
recovery
as i meet with their loved ones and
health professionals and community
members
seeking to provide support in many of
those conversations
i see firsthand the powerful results
when individuals fighting addiction
are connected to care and provide this
provided the sustained
support they need on the road to
recovery
i'm glad to see my buddy larry here for
another reason
and that's because something i've always
emphasized is that
public health is sometimes overlooked a
key linkage in recovery
the workplace even if it's virtual as it
is
right now i'm convinced the workplace
remains a critical component of support
to those who are struggling with
addiction
an estimated two-thirds of individuals
who misuse opioids
are employed i remember visiting fort
wayne indiana and their health
commissioner telling me that
70 of the overdoses in their county
were among people who were employed
given how much time employees spend at
work and the powerful grip of addiction
it is possible and likely that many of
these individuals will turn to substance
misuse while on the job
the substance misuse rates in key
industries are very high such as the
accommodations in food services industry
construction and mining and samhsa's
data
tells us that one in five employees in
the accommodations and food industry
report illicit drug use in the last
month
one in five substance misuse and
addiction is not only harmful to our
health
but it also leads to absenteeism high
turnover rates workplace injuries
and reduced performance on the job and
it's why we must
address it holistically on the other
hand and this is critical
we know that gainful employment is an
important part of getting
and staying healthy along with stable
housing
having a meaningful and adequately
paying job
is one of the best predictors of
successful
recovery and i've visited places like
belden
like grayston bakery throughout the
country that give
people a chance to work and have found
that as larry has exemplified
they are often the most loyal and
consistently
productive employees that a company has
once you give them
that chance we know that having healthy
employees workplaces and communities
helps our businesses thrive
and what's good for health both mental
and physical is good
for business an important and still too
often
missed touch point for recovery is when
individuals
overdose that's why my office
as director carol mentioned is focused
on putting naloxone in the hands of
community members
in an effort to reduce opioid-related
overdose deaths
in april 2018 fantastic
fantastic in april 2018 i issued the
first surgeon general
advisory in more than 10 years
highlighting the importance of naloxone
and how we can use it to help curb
opioid overdose deaths
and if secret service doesn't kill me
i'm going to demonstrate to the first
lady how
to use naloxone put your finger over it
like that and you just push so
give us a push that's literally how easy
it is
to save a life that is how easy it is to
save a life
any of us can do it one time use yes
that's the intranasal form this is the
auto injector form
since the beginning of this
administration we've seen a more than
400 percent
increase in naloxone dispensed and this
amounts to real
lives saved in communities across the
country thanks to
all of you because we put the word out
we demonstrate good behavior but you all
are the ones that are making it happen
on the community level
and i know first responders have made
great strides to make sure personnel
carry naloxone while on duty
so i'm grateful to owen dcp and cdc for
formulating guidance for our frontline
heroes
including law enforcement and
firefighters in delivering this
life-saving drug
while staying safe from covet 19. i want
you to hear me say this
covet 19 is not an excuse
to not deliver naloxone to someone who
you suspect of having an overdose
it is a low risk endeavor to
deliver naloxone to someone but it there
is a high chance that you could save
a life it's also important that we
encourage those beyond our traditional
first responders
on how to use in the care of naloxone
including employees
employers teachers coaches parents and
friends
and first ladies speaking of engaging in
and working with new and non-traditional
partners i'm also committed to working
diligently with communities to address
the opioid crisis
from multiple angles any of you all
remember this guy called c everett coop
one of my predecessors he looked a
little bit different than me he was a
little bit older
had a big gray beard well in the 80s he
put out a pamphlet called understanding
aids
to every household in america anyone
remember that detailing ways
that everyone could get involved to stop
the hiv epidemic
the opioid crisis calls for a similar
approach but my office took a 21st
century slant and issued a digital
postcard to educate americans about the
opioid crisis
the postcard provides tangible actions
that every single citizen can take
to raise awareness prevent addiction and
stop opioid overdose deaths
and i hope you'll visit my website at
surgeongeneral.gov
download the digital postcard and share
it with your loved ones
share it online share it through your
social media channels
in addition to the postcard encourage
others to share their stories as
larry has done in an effort to educate
and to reduce stigma
we know addiction is complicated and we
must work to help
everyone understand that it is a disease
and not
a moral failing and that it can happen
to
anyone reducing stigma
can lead to better health outcomes but
if we don't
i remain convinced that stigma is and
can continue to be one of our biggest
killers
unless our loved ones and their families
feel comfortable seeking help
we'll never be able to get it to those
who need it the most and that's why i
also want to give a shout out to first
lady bergen
from north dakota who's been very public
with her story
that's how you bust stigma with a first
lady of the united states
visiting moms with substance use
disorder by a first lady of north dakota
sharing her story with larry kudlow
in the powerful position that he's in
sharing his story
of recovery and i personally know the
effects of how substance misuse and
addiction
can hurt not just the individual but
their entire family friends
and broader community there's rarely an
individual
suffering from addiction there's a
community around that individual
who is also suffering and my own baby
brother philip
struggles with mental illness and
self-medicated
to cope the good news
is that together we've made headway in
improving treatment for substance misuse
and my little brother has more of a
chance
than what people have had in the past
while treatments and services are
increasingly available
and accessible we still have far to go
to ensure that every person
regardless of race ethnicity gender or
geography receive the support
they need to recover and like many of
you
i want to help not just turn the faucet
off or to turn the faucet off not just
mop up the flood
we must all continue promoting and
investing in interventions
that prevent addiction in the first
place by treating mental health
conditions and integrating medical
mental and physical health by raising
awareness of
and working to prevent adverse childhood
experiences
by promoting trauma-informed care far
too often we re-traumatize people
when they come to us at their low points
and by working to prevent youth misuse
of any and all substances
that have been shown to impact brain
development including
vaping including marijuana use including
alcohol
misuse so in closing i'd ask
that you please join me in this
important work
and continue your efforts to empower and
enrich
our communities one person one family
one workplace one nation at a time
i know we can do it the proof is around
this table we just need to help
everyone else understand addiction is a
disease
and not a moral failing but recovery is
possible thank you
thank you general adams he stole my
thunder
a little bit um i now have the honor of
introducing another friend from north
dakota
the first lady first lady burgum has
been an outspoken advocate for those who
sometimes don't have a voice
and as she celebrates 18 years
in recovery what she is doing is making
sure that folks not only back home in
north dakota
are able to escape the stigma of
addiction
working with her husband the governor
they're able to find employment they're
able to restart their lives
as first lady trump has instructed us to
do
to keep the light turned on to make sure
that those people know that they have a
home and thanks to the employers in
north dakota
and as evidenced here at the table
across the country
and so as the first lady and as the
chair of the north dakota office of
recovery reinvented
advisory council i'd love to introduce
you all to my friend the first lady
of north dakota catherine bergen
[Applause]
thank you thanks so much director carol
i'm so grateful
and honored to be with you all today
thank you so much for including me in
this important discussion and thank you
for the incredible work the office of
national drug control and policy does
to support and care for so many people
across our nation
and thank you first lady for your
incredible
be best initiative especially your focus
on opioids
and also your commitment
and call to action around helping to
eliminate the stigma of a disease of
addiction
so as everybody knows september is
recovery month and as
director carol mentioned um i am 18
years now in long-term recovery from
alcohol addiction
and i am deeply grateful for that
because i too
like larry would not be here today at
the white house
i don't know where i'd be without my
recovery so i'm deeply grateful
my struggle with addiction started when
i was young when i was in high school
and followed me for 20 years of my life
including eight years of relapsing
two things were really important to me
in finding recovery
one was asking for help and the second
was an incredibly supportive work
environment
and a deeply understanding team leader
that was pivotal in helping me find
recovery
when i became first lady i decided to
share my addiction and recovery story
publicly which i had not done before and
at that point i had 15 years of recovery
that led the governor and i to start
an initiative called recovery reinvented
which actually started as a one-day
event
focused around eliminating the stigma of
addiction but has really morphed into a
statewide
initiative with a lot of people focused
on a lot of efforts
around eliminating stigma
those early years that we've hosted the
conference we've had for three years now
we really had a population and an
audience that was
already deeply engaged in behavioral
health and recovery and addiction
we decided to pivot and focus about a
year ago we decided this
and focus on corporate america a
non-traditional audience
that could really make a big big impact
in eliminating stigma
so this year at recovery reinvented
one of our initiatives we have another
recover our fourth
recovery reinvented will be happening
this year um
on october 28th it's all virtual but our
initiative
is one of them is focused on eliminating
the stigma of addiction
and building recovery support in the
workplace
so um so when we pivoted to this a year
ago
i decided that in my speaking
engagements i would focus on
businesses and i would focus on
eliminating this the stigma of addiction
so i spoke to
two really big audiences one was the
chamber of commerce
for all the little cities across the
state of north dakota
and the second was at the amazon web
services public sector
summit and then i decided to at those
events ask people to stand with me
and be a face and voice of recovery at
these big business events
which you could have heard a pin drop in
those rooms
when i asked people to stand with me and
people did
and then there was thunderous applause
and support for those people
and that's really what a recovery
friendly workplace should
be like it should be an environment
where there's no shame in admitting that
you're in recovery
and that you're a face and voice of
recovery or that you're a person that's
struggling and needs
and might need help in north dakota we
are all in on the concept of peer
support specialists or peer recovery
specialists
and there are two reasons why we're all
in on that concept and one it's because
50 percent of our state is rural and
we're never going to have all the
behavioral
health services that we need to reach
people struggling in all corners of our
state
and two because it's a career path it is
a career path for people
that have uh struggled with uh the
disease of addiction or behavioral
health and have criminal
backgrounds um and cannot uh
find jobs so it is a career opportunity
also
we have 472 people trained in our state
as peer support specialists
we have a certification for them and
medicaid reimbursement
is now in effect for that service in our
state
at this recovery reinvented event that
we're going to have on october 28th
we are focused on one we're focusing on
a lot of people we celebrate people that
do things differently related to
helping other people who struggle with
the disease of addiction
this year we're focusing on a company
called solid comfort which made
furniture for companies like
marriott hilton windham and best western
75 percent of their current employees
either struggle with addiction or have
criminal backgrounds or been
incarcerated so they attract
this underdeveloped and underutilized
pool
of candidates through their program
called solid start
they actively recruit team members that
were incarcerated
they participate in job fairs behind the
prison walls
they maintain relationships with
probation and parole officers local
judges and drug court administrators
to keep that steady pipeline of people
coming
to work at their location
they believe that the greatest benefit
isn't about good business for them it's
about communities they serve helping
empower people with second chances to
remake their lives
and they know that when we all do better
we all benefit
so in closing i believe the two most
impactful recommendations that i can
make today
to support building recovery friendly
workplaces are
number one encourage businesses to
contract with peer support specialists
as an extension of an eap program
and number two have senior level
executives and managers
focus on eliminating stigma by talking
openly
about addiction and mental illness
which can turn into a culture of
openness and a safe environment for
employees
to talk about the issues that they face
it starts at the top level
it's not only a human resources function
to create culture and organizations
so thank you again for inviting me to be
a part of this discussion today
[Applause]
mrs trump i don't know that i've ever
mentioned this but i was working in the
west wing for her husband
in another capacity and i started
working behind the scenes with kellyanne
conway
on this issue and i realized this
position was open
and as i did mention publicly about two
and a half years ago
i'd had a my wife called me and turns
out we have a family member who needed
to get in detox that day
and so i knew that i wanted to get into
this position
and when i met with the president his
parting
words to me after talking about this
issue and we spoke
about his brother fred who had died of
this his parting words as i
left the oval office and we were talking
about saving lives he said be relentless
and it was it's been my charge to my
staff um to be relentless on this
and the next person that i want to
introduce is someone
who really epitomizes that and has lived
up to the charge of being relentless
um even though she didn't know the
president told me to say that um it's
someone that i think
she has done that um every day and patty
mccarthy the ceo of faces and voices
a person in long-term recovery and when
i took the job
and came over they said the first person
that i need to meet
because she is truly the national
spokesperson
for people in the recovery she's been an
ally in getting key legislation passed
she's been an ally and making sure that
those folks are
heard on capitol hill and that they're
heard
here at the white house and so i now
like to introduce
my friend patty metcalf patty thank you
good afternoon and happy recovery month
it's great to be here
i am patty mccarthy and i am a woman in
long-term recovery
and for me that means i have not used
alcohol or drugs in over 30 years
and i say that because if it wasn't for
my recovery i
certainly wouldn't be here sitting with
all of you at the white house
or i would not be the mother and
grandmother
and employee and employer
and taxpayer and voter that i am today
so if it wasn't for the opportunity to
get into
recovery i wouldn't have the gifts i
have experienced here but um just want
to say a big
shout out and thank you to the first
lady for your
very thoughtful remarks and support of
the recovery community
and for director carol for always
supporting us in the recovery advocacy
movement
and faces and voices of recovery
i was it was a quite a surprise
last november when i got a phone call
from director carol on my 30-year
anniversary so
very very very nice to um to hear always
um i just wanted to say that faces and
voices is incredibly um
grateful to be part of this discussion
and and
we've been around for over 20 years uh
leading
a uh advocacy movement of the grassroots
recovery community so people in recovery
family members friends allies all
everyone here who supports recovery
and it's an incredible movement that has
represents over
23 million americans that have are in
recovery
and we've grown internationally we have
faces and voices of recovery canada
brazil south africa united kingdom
so the recovery advocacy movement
is incredibly strong and we want
we encourage everyone to get involved
i work with an incredible team of people
who are dedicated to
bringing awareness fighting the stigma
eliminating
the and fighting for the rights of
people in recovery
particularly around employment and
housing and
and criminal justice issues that have
often been a barrier for people in
recovery to find
um to to find the help that they need
and to live
productive and meaningful lives so
our um we again we we work to
organize and mobilize the the recovery
community across the nation
i've visited so many grassroots
organizations and individuals that have
been
telling their stories at the local level
and that's why it's so important that we
step up and
be part of the conversation that people
in recovery are part of the solution
and we know that recovery is not only
possible it's not only probable
but it is the expected outcome when
other appropriate
treatment and recovery support services
are made available
so we will continue to fight for that
and every level
in communities and and and in federal uh
legislation on capitol hill so um
bringing together the recovery community
is just it's it's a pleasure
to work with so many individuals that
have been impacted
by addiction and particularly the work
of organizations that are supporting the
children
and the children who are the the biggest
the biggest winners
when when parents find recovery
so i'm very grateful to be here and
and thank you very much
mrs trump i know you have another
obligation to go to well i have surprise
i changed my schedule
oh my gosh i changed my schedule so i
want to hear the stories i read
amazing biographies of these people so i
want to
stay and hear from you so oh my gosh
that's great thank you
you can see why we're so blessed to have
mrs trump as the first lady and so
dedicated to this
issue um you know larry you said a
minute ago
you know that when you're in the oval
office and the president raises his
voice at you
we've never had that i really don't know
what you're talking about yeah it must
just be you
larry um the toughest person in the room
really for me to win over probably was
mrs mccarthy patty you know i think
wasn't sure when i came
in whether or not i was going to be the
advocate but having
a family member um and having you with
philip
um and having a family member um and
patty's not shy about i i said i'm not
shy about picking up the phone and
calling dr adams patti's not shy about
picking up the phone and calling me
the that's a compliment actually
um so at our office
it is important that we have people like
the folks we've introduced so far nearby
to make sure that we're doing the right
thing but it's also critical
to make sure that here at the white
house in my office
that as the principal drug advisor of
the president that we have people
much closer by to me who can make sure
that i'm doing the right thing
and so to begin the next part of the
panel is one of those people
and my colleague peter gamond who's been
working at the office of national drug
control policy for 10 years
and is a person in long-term recovery
and
before peter begins i'd also just like
to recognize that we have other people
in the audience today who might not be
at the table
but who work at the white house who have
been
on the other side of recovery but
they're here today
and they know that recovery works
we've also have parents here who have
lost a child
and we know how difficult this must be
but we're blessed with peter who's not
particularly shy
either about making sure that i'm
drawing the right thing for people in
recovery
and so peter if you could take over the
next portion so the first lady and i can
listen
that would be fantastic absolutely well
my name is peter i'm a person in
long-term recovery and that for me means
among other things that i could be
sitting at a table like this today and i
think a lot of us can
imagine how far away that might have
seemed at certain points
in our own experience what i'd like to
do today
is for everybody who hasn't been
introduced so far if you could just
quickly introduce tell us your name tell
us the organization you work for
no long introductions because we want to
keep the time so we can talk talk about
the issues talk about
what works what doesn't so why don't we
start
uh right here with you douglas cork here
mr kaiker
hi i'm doug kiker and i'm here
representing um
retrofit careers now ecoverycareers.com
and i'm an employer i've been in the
construction business for
36 years and i'm also in recovery
and in that time i have put a lot of
people to work
that are in recovery and i can tell you
people in recovery make
great employees um so
uh i've been doing this on my phone at
night
and uh i spoke to my co-founder over
there at the end about it and he said
why don't we start a website and we
looked around because we thought there
had to be a website
dedicated to putting people in recovery
to work with people
who were interested in hiring those
people and
there was none so we started a company
called retrofit careers.com
and there's been several challenges
to bring employees to bring in employers
and to let people know we're here
i'm in construction and dan's in sales
and
we've funded this by ourselves so far
but
i have a lot more to say about it but uh
in the in the
in the interest of time i'll uh concede
thank you very much and it's an honor to
be here and thank you very much
down the line thank you thank you jim
my name is john moser i'm with tony
lukes in philadelphia if you can't hear
by my accent
we have the recovered futures initiative
the reason we started this after which
was
witnessing the stigma surrounding
addiction derail his son's
career aspirations compromises sobriety
and ultimately cost him his life tony
luke jr
standing behind me and tony luke's the
brand
pledged to establish initiative designed
to empower
the professional lives of those in
recovery
we have a franchise system and we are
working diligently
to bring people through recovery into
ownership
of their own franchise we believe
that the stigma of addiction
well we seek to aid these individuals
developing confidence
job experience professional skills
that dispel the unemployable rumor
these make our long-term goals doable
recover futures believes that the social
stigma surrounding addiction
is the primary barrier standing between
those in recovery
and the realization of their full career
potentials
so we're working diligently to bring
people through
and and actually own their own
businesses
through
some very hard work and we're starting
to get some help from our state
level so we're very excited and uh
mr kyle's been awesome awesome thank you
thank you
and um i don't tony didn't wait but tony
um we're blessed to have tony here
and i know you do all this in memory of
your son um
and we had the great opportunity to meet
when i came up there when i've been on
the road i eat at too many places
whether it's natalie fresh or tony
luke's
i'm sure my doctor here is going to tell
me to
watch my what i i've been known to have
some tony luke's during my time too
in moderation i i just want to really
quickly say that that
you brought up a very important point
and that's not just
employment it's gainful employment and a
pathway forward because what i've
experienced as i've gone around the
country is employment is important and
it's the first step
but far too many people in recovery are
chronically
underemployed and that leads to
frustration and anxiety
and depression and a feeling feeling
like they can't get out of the hole and
so i
just really wanted to highlight that and
say thank you for
for creating that pathway that pipeline
you got to get in somewhere but you got
to have a vision for where you can be
and thank you for recognizing that that
to us that's the very
essence of what we're trying to do um we
everyone that we've met and worked with
in recovery are super intelligent people
um extremely intelligent i should say
um and um unfortunately i feel
the stigma has put these people into
dead-end jobs
there is no stigma in our operation not
at all
um and we are working for that that's a
thank you for pointing that out i
appreciate that
thank you and as we move along if we
could try to be brief because we do want
to have a discussion across the table
too
thank you i'm john muinzad i am the
founder
and owner of forged modern and ventanas
sober living i am a designer and an
artist
and i am also in recovery grateful to be
in recovery
what i have done is i've transitioned
what i used to do to change people's
atmospheres to actually changing their
lives
we create a line of beautiful
architecturally significant
furniture that is for commercial and
residential use
a percentage of those proceeds go to
support people in their continuum of
care through
a beautiful rewarding sober living
program
that's open-ended we have a
stigma-free obvious environment but i've
had an opportunity to take
the relationships that i had forged in
my previous life as an interior designer
before
shifting my focus to what's really
important
and i have been so encouraged by
those progressive companies that have
recognized the opportunity with these
brilliantly talented people
one of the things that i i look at and
the symbolism of
forged is that we work mostly in steel
because it's a us
product but more importantly because the
process of forging something you have to
practically destroy it
and the people that come out of or on
the uh fortunate to be on the other side
of recovery
are stronger much like steel for their
triumphs and for
the things that they've gone through to
get there so i'm grateful
to be here and i'm grateful for the
opportunity to have this platform
thank you
hi i'm tyler libby the operations
coordinator of waste hope inc based out
of wisconsin
i'm in recovery and i'm just blessed to
work for a recovery and
recovery friendly environment that
offers a great career development i'll
let peter
explain a little bit more about what we
actually do
my name is peter renzel i'm executive
director of wiz hope in wisconsin
and um i myself am in recovery for 26
years since i was 18 years old
and um through time my passion was to
simply learn how
to give and be a part of that process
and my everyday life and
one of the programs that we have created
the last two years is something called
recovery
business association and that's where we
go into employers we teach them how to
have recovery thriving
culture and environment and we also
support them by
with pure supports as you mentioned so
hi i'm lisa sheller and i'm the founder
of hope and coffee and first let me say
thank you first lady
trump um director carol dr adams larry
and everyone in this room for everything
that you're doing
to normalize recovery and the stigma and
help fi and
help end this opioid epidemic the most
liberating day of my life was
april 1st 1982. it's the day i entered
treatment for heroin addiction
admitted that i was powerless over my
addiction and by the grace of god i've
been clean and sober for more than 38
years
i went on to get live a really great
life got a
degree in engineering i run an
international chemical company
and but i was always told never tell
anyone about your addiction stay
anonymous
people are going to think bad things of
you people are going to tell stories
about you
well as the opioid epidemic unfolded a
few years ago
i realized that i needed to take what i
was told was my
my biggest liability and make it my
biggest strength
and in 2018 i decided to break my
i felt compelled to break my own
anonymity and i founded a coffee shop
called hope and coffee in tamaqua
pennsylvania
and as part of founding that shop i told
my i told my story to help fundraise
so hope and coffee is located in tamaqua
pennsylvania
a town that has more than 2x the the
national addiction rate it's the town
that i grew up in
and it is a coffee shop that employs
addicts in early recovery
and as we know these folks can folks
like me can't get a job because
spotty employment history criminal
background
lack of education um it's a family
friendly shop that has become
the community focal point the people who
who go there we've also created or i've
also created a partnership with our
local community
college so that our baristas who are
very grateful for their sobriety as well
can get vocational training and then
graduate and become part of
the the general workforce and lead clean
sober better lives
i've made it my own personal mission to
elevate the cause and eliminate the
stigma of being in recovery
that someone in recovery can do any can
aspire to anything
and this year i decided to run for u.s
congress so
but i'd like to say my managing my
director of hope and coffee is here
she's amazing and we'd like to all
invite you to come to tomoko
pennsylvania
and see what recovery looks like uh and
how we are changing the conversation
around addiction and recovery one
conversation and one cup of coffee at a
time
[Applause]
my name is lauren clora i'm the director
of hope and coffee
i am also very thankful to be here thank
you for having me today
as lisa mentioned hope and coffee is a
as a place a cafe that normalizes
recovery
and works to reduce the stigma in our
small rural town
we create bystander opportunities by
just being a regular community
cafe where anybody can come and enjoy a
cup of coffee
enjoy a baked good enjoy some live music
go to a recovery based meeting where we
house them there
we really just are a resource hub for
our entire
community so far hope and coffee has
employed 18
employees and 16 of of our employees
are currently living still in recovery
today and working successfully
with their employers so we pride
ourselves
in just focusing on the fact that you
know
the opposite of addiction is not
sobriety the opposite of addiction is
positive connection
thank you
sorry good afternoon my name is brian
corson
i'm the founder and executive director
of mvp recovery
so we're the largest and most
comprehensive recovery program
in the region we're about 15 minutes
from philadelphia
and i come here to you today as
a father of three young children as a
member of the community and specifically
as a person in long-term recovery myself
i'd be remissing not to say that a
little over 16 years ago
i wasn't invited to just about anybody's
house
so for you to have me at the white house
today i want to thank you very much
and for anybody that's watching this or
listening to this
if that doesn't show that recovery is
not just possible
but recovery is amazing if you really
stick and stay and utilize
what is what is available and when we
talk about recovery at mvp recovery
we talk about what samsa identifies as
the four components of recovery
and that's health home purpose and
community
those are the things that an individual
needs to be in a program or recovery and
that's what we focus on
as we've identified treatment and
different things like that that help
people get to that point
here at mvp we identified that there was
more
to obtain and maintain long-term term
recovery
and when we talk about purpose
employment comes so
hand in hand when we talk about having a
purpose and what we were seeing is
individuals in the midst of this
epidemic
coming into us and they're 19 years old
and they
they have a criminal charge behind their
substance use
and that felony is following them for
the rest of their life
and we're telling them that anything is
possible in recovery
except for these certain jobs over here
and that's something that we're looking
to
you know with the with the assistance of
um individuals like you here today to
work on that because
um as everyone's talking about when
someone gets sober and someone gets in
recovery
sky's the limit and we see that every
day
and when we see barriers that are put in
place that is not the individual's
full-on responsibility but as a
consequence of this disease of addiction
we want to help support them and move
them forward with that
um like most things as we identified
these issues i'm sure it's the same
thing here at the white house's
we identified these issues and my wife
came up with the best ideas for it so
i'm going to have her
share what programs that we established
here at mvp but i want to thank you
for having us here today and thank you
for your commitment to this
thank you for having us good afternoon
thank you mr adams mr
dr adams mr carroll first lady trump and
mr kudlow um as you did i am a person in
long-term
recovery and um as it says in the big
book you will be rocketed to the fourth
dimension but boy this is a trip
to be here today i'm very grateful
we as my husband said we operate mvp
recovery
uh in philadelphia right outside of
philadelphia pennsylvania
and about four years ago we started our
female program
and what i noticed was that most often
times in our
mail program men would come in and they
would have
the construction job to fall back on or
they would have
some type of trade when the female
program opened that was not the case and
i would see women
moms that were trying their hardest to
get back their kids
that were trying their hardest to pay
the rent that we're trying their hardest
to walk away from their past and to walk
away and to
really try to attack their trauma being
told no
no you you can't be hired here or yes
you're hired
pending a background check and every
time they were told
no they were re-traumatized and
i came up with the thought of second
chance employment
and that is essentially to give these
people
and not just the women it is now a
full-on county-wide initiative
to give these people that are in
recovery the chance
to get a job and once people put their
give their hope to them and give them a
job
they are the best employees from that
has stemmed
second chance parenting it has
i have another initiative hope for the
holidays we have so many initiatives at
mvp recovery because what we have
realized through working hand in hand
with individuals and being in recovery
ourselves is that recovery and
maintaining and obtaining long-term
sobriety
is a puzzle and it requires attention
at every piece of that puzzle and part
of that
again is employment and purpose
so thank you for having us here
my name is dodd wood i'm from anderson
south carolina i'm a small business
owner i'm in the insulation
contracting business so i'm a small
business in a small
town and it's just a blessing to be here
to have opportunity to speak
and and listen to these wonderful
stories and this group of people and
i just want to say that uh it's it's a
blessing
uh but my my story of recovery is i've
never had to be a recovery thank the
lord i've never had an issue with
substance abuse and
i know it's a blessing and but i do see
it
i see it every day and i try my best to
hire
and and and promote and
give the opportunity and chances to the
gentleman our community who
do have problems and that's what i've
found so many times is
uh they're they're shut out of so many
opportunities
and with what i do in the insulation
contracting business
it's you know not a very glamorous job
it's usually a starting point but i try
to tell the guys as i hire them
to start off at this level of work that
i'm giving you the opportunity
show me what you can do and we'll help
you find a better job
as you prove yourself and that's what i
try to explain you know
mine's a first step mine's the
opportunity to show that you can do the
work
and if you're better at it and you want
a better job
i'm gonna help you find if i find a
better job i'm gonna take it
you know that's what we're here for and
so that's that's the whole idea so
i try to lead them that way try to show
them that you know
that we do love them you know there's
you know they they're going through
these problems
they think their life could be you know
at a dead end
but it's not they can always start over
you could end up working for
president trump at the white house you
know that's that's how far you could go
if you're if you're dedicated and you
and you want the
you know if you do what you're supposed
to do you have the
self-control and self-esteem to do it
but i just
try to give them as many opportunities
as they can because that's the biggest
gift i can give them is the opportunity
if they show me they can work
i can promote them as far as i can
promote them but most of all
i can help them find their next step
their next job
and hopefully have them reconcile with
their family or whatever it is
they're trying to do because it's the
most important thing they know they can
talk to me i'm there to listen to them
we have a devotion once a week with all
my guys
that if they're interested but i just
wanted to know that you know it's not
this may be a it honestly may be a bad
job it is i do it
doing all my life i know what a bad job
i mean it's not fun it's not a good one
but you have to start somewhere it
teaches you good work ethic
get your self-esteem up and we'll go to
the next step so
thank you well one other thing and then
before we
jump to point i just want you know
talking with you know brian christine
and dodd is i know secretary scalia
wanted to be here today from the
department of labor
and the statistics show i mean this
isn't just us sort of feeling it
the statistics show that employees in
recovery
are the best employees they're so
grateful
um you know we have the opportunity to
work
you know whether it's for the president
of the united states whether it's to
work
you know for you and carolina um to work
at the restaurants
it's that opportunity you know to be
able to you know start over again and
have someone believe in them and so
um the statistics show what we feel so
thank you
and we recognize that one of the things
i want folks to think about and we won't
have time to hash through all these
issues
today but one of the things we want to
know from a federal perspective is how
can we help people like you
because you've got the heart to do the
right thing but we also have to be
realistic
that you run an insulation company
you're not a psychiatrist
you're not an expert on
medication-assisted treatment
you're not someone who is necessarily
equipped
to deal with the issues that will come
up
uh we know for people in recovery but we
know that those supports are available
in the community
and so we want to understand what we can
do
to better create that connectivity
between the support services that are
probably already right there in your
community
or that we can help make available in
your community and the opportunity
that you're giving people so that they
can be maximally successful in recovery
thank you appreciate it
hi everybody i'm julie funkhouser i'm
the co-founder and ceo
of the recovery connection and i just
have to say um
it is beyond an honor and a privilege to
be here and i hope i'm not the only one
that was like totally nervous this
morning
about this but but i do have to share
with you after hearing
um your story and and first lady trump
and just everybody
having an opportunity to um
share words and and meeting the folks
that i've met so far
it just shows me time and time again
that um
you know recovery is everywhere even in
the white house
you know and um so i must say that i'm
not i'm not
very nervous you know because i sense
the love and i sense the
authenticity and and the um sincerity
you know um but i am a person in
long-term recovery i
celebrated 12 years back in april
and i'm originally from northern
virginia i am out in
winchester virginia which i don't know
if anybody's familiar with that it's
kind
of out there
but my um so the recovery connection
is a transitional living program
for women that struggle with substance
use disorder
my partner well she's my best friend as
well meredith speer we
um two years ago we just celebrated our
two-year anniversary being open
um and we are peer-based as it stands
right now we believe
in i'm a certified peer recovery
specialist and i'm a certified narcan
trainer too
so um yeah
um but we believe in in
cultivating a culture of transparency um
you know we we are small right now we're
in the process of expansion
um beyond one location and we are
becoming residential treatment
and not just um so we're incorporating
clinical services which is very exciting
and so i'm
looking forward to having a discussion
in regards to at least on a state level
here in virginia
some of the challenges that we face in
employing people in recovery
in a clinical setting um because
oftentimes their records haunt them
and so you know that's uh something that
we face
on a regular basis because we're in the
hiring process right now and
um you know i have a line out the door
of people in recovery that want to work
for us
because they um they they believe in
that that unspoken automatic empathy
you know um and there's
we we can't um because there's you know
um legislation that that blocks that so
um so i'm looking forward to having a
discussion i am also a
mental health and recovery advocate
and i didn't intentionally sign up for
that unfortunately i lost my husband
danny
to an overdose on september 11 2018 an
already very solemn day
um and so you know coming up on the
two-year anniversary of that
i kind of you know after his passing i
um you know the events leading up to his
decline
were indicative of of some gaps that
existed in the system
and every crack that was there he he
fell through
across several different entities at the
crisis level and so i found a passion in
advocating for
different types of crisis intervention
services and i just wanted to share
i'm thrilled that in the state of
virginia as of july 1st
a piece of legislation sb903 known as
danny's law was passed
uncontested so that's trying to
laying a foundation to provide standard
operating procedures and how
substance use related emergencies are
handled in the emergency rooms and
hospitals so
um i will close with this very very
quickly um
when i decided to dive into advocacy i
didn't know what i was doing but i
remember saying to my dad
um he also he has 36 years in in
recovery
um and i s you know he said you're going
to do this kiddo
and i said one day i'm going to get to
the white house guess what
[Music]
so thank you so much
three four people to speak so if we can
keep that in mind so that everybody gets
a chance to speak
doc the director first lady and larry k
for having us here my name is greg
nalley
i'm a chef and founder of natalie fresh
restaurants in the baltimore region
i have a fortunate to have 11 locations
three of them i solely
use for what i call second chance and
it's not just
drugs and alcohol it's rehabilitation
from prison and
a lot of other things um what i've found
and i
you know instead of having all my 11
locations
with uh with with folks in recovery i
feel it's better to have two or three
and have more of a concentrated
a more of a concentrated energy or
synergy
with the people because uh it's
mentioned several times a day and it's i
you know it's that connection it's the
connection of people
like-minded people when larry talked
this morning
he set the tone like-minded people that
you can talk to
and this whole thing for me is drinking
is but a symptom
drugs are but a symptom it's everything
else
it's how do i handle it if it's left up
to my own devices
i want to feel good quick and i want to
feel good fast
and i want to feel good as easily as i
can
and for a long time that was drugs and
alcohol and now it's not that way
and it doesn't have to be and so it has
you know the same man will drink again
and and i based on my spiritual
condition
i have a chance today and that's what i
try to preach with with everybody that
comes to work with me
and i'm very fortunate i came in here in
a cavalier attitude
today and i am very very humbled right
now
and very grateful and thanks for having
me
i know time's limited but i have to say
greg i talk about the stores you know i
was able to visit the store once
um and i shared that story about the
practice there because it really it blew
my mind because you know i'm so often
going to
a situation or a location where they
have like one person or two people in
recovery
um and much like patty greg sort of
slapped me around
and said no no we're bringing everyone
together on one location
because they can recognize when someone
is about to slip when someone is about
to go down that path
more so than someone who has never
experienced the disease of addiction
someone else can see and i think you
were the first person to said
um you relapse before you relapse
and you know so thank you for putting my
head on the right way
near the beginning of my term thank you
hello i'm uh dr donovan beckett i'm the
ceo executive director of williamson
health and wellness um i'm also a
physician that practices uh medicine
thank you all for having me here's an
incredible honor
we're in southern west virginia right on
the kentucky border which is you know as
you know has been devastated by
the opioid epidemic and addiction
our clinic is a fairly qualified health
center but we see it as the economic
driver for the
community so it uh we are traditional
clinic but we've done a lot of things
outside the box our
motto is being different on purpose and
and uh that's
very important for uh recovery addiction
the stigma that we've all talked about
but
with us we've started farmer's market we
started community garden all these
things associated with our clinic but
one thing that happened after we had
started our medical assistant treatment
program was
you know we knew an integral part of
recovery was having employment so we
looked at possibilities and
and came up with a gluten-free bakery
that that just took off
amazingly well and uh um so well that
it's
expanding now we're going to locate into
a new space
but also it just reinforced that if we
can find more
employers that would be willing to take
a chance on people in recovery that
would be very
beneficial to our program but also to
the community as well
and on the road to recovery so we have
now
worked with community college on
creating a certificate programs
so we're going to begin other programs
and other employees that are in
interested in employing our patients
that are coming to recovery
uh to give them that opportunity to uh
to recover
and with as dr adams having uh gainful
employment i mean that's you know
we've got a lot of opportunities to do
things a lot of shortage and and
people looking for employment but uh
this will give us the opportunity to do
that
thank you very much
good afternoon everyone my name is
keegan wicks and i'm a person in
long-term recovery
i am with faces and voices of recovery
and specifically i just want to spend a
moment to talk about
the the word connection that's been
referenced throughout the day today i
think that that is such an incredible
description and
something to to carry with us as we
travel through
all of september during national
recovery month we're
at faces and voices really fortunate to
be uh to be afforded the opportunity
to coordinate efforts uh for national
recovery month
um in our 31st annual celebration
um i i encourage all of you to continue
to follow along and celebrate
with us and in your own events and in
your own communities
throughout america and for that i'm
grateful thank you
dr tracy strawberry and grateful to be
here
i am also the wife of ma former major
league baseball player daryl strawberry
whose story has been very public so
addiction and alcoholism can affect
anyone
i also have 21 years in recovery from
an addiction that i had to surrender
custody of my children so we are strong
advocates of reconciling the family
we are also strong advocates for
the communities of families individuals
but also our children within the high
schools
family development resources to
reconcile the family and the individuals
so we provide resources and for sake of
time also
private sector of what we do i started
finding your way inc
and in the private sector i go and i
create
programs for employers organizations
churches any organizations how do we
handle the issue of recovery
how do we remove the stigma and what do
they need and how can we
meet that need the community is ready
and i want to thank each and every
person because recovery would not be
possible
without each and every person here at
this table or outside of these four
walls that participate
in the recovery community and do what
they do first lady i thank you from the
bottom of our heart our deepest
gratitude thank you for the position
that you take and stand in helping us
break
that stigma and for all that you do
thank you
well i want to thank everybody i've got
a handoff to director carol but
beforehand
i just want to say briefly i think we
could have gone on for quite a while
there's so much to talk about
so if you're willing and would like to
continue the dialogue via email or other
ways please
see me afterwards we'll exchange cards
and we'll keep the conversation going
what that'll handle can i ask a favor of
you and director carol also one of the
things that i think
is critically important is that we find
a way
to to start to publish and
and catalog each of your stories and
experiences
because we know that um to some extent
having it in the published literature
then leads to
the evidence base that's needed to
create new policies
and to further facilitate funding and
resources and that's one way of busting
stigma and so i actually have a surgeon
general's report
that's coming out in october on
community health and economic prosperity
and we talk about recovery friendly
workplaces but we also talk about other
businesses that are investing in their
communities in an array of ways
but i think one thing ondcp could do and
i would love to work with you all on
this
is figure out how we pair you all up
with some academic centers
and actually start publishing some
stories
some vignettes like they do in the
harvard business review to say this is
a proven way of
of increasing your workforce it doesn't
provide extra legal liability one of the
problems that i've found
is that uh any of you all who own
businesses also have lawyers
whose job it is to protect you and they
have stick
they're subject to stigma also and so we
need to publish and say not only is this
not a legal risk but actually they have
less workman's comp claims and these
folks actually
have a lower legal risk than everyone
else out there but that's something i
think we could do together to help
lift these stories up and not just let
them
end with a round table discussion today
but become the start
of us busting stigma in the in the
literature and creating a pathway for
other people to follow your example
in closing i do hope to stay and be in
touch with you all
i've been able to visit you so many
places um i look forward to
going to north carolina coming to north
dakota at the end of october
um the first lady has promised the
weather will still be nice maybe still
warm
no snow even though it's north dakota
the reality is that all of you have come
from across
the country to be with us today to share
the stories
of recovery and hope and to talk about
that
life goes on and that not only that that
recovery
is possible and that with love and
support
and with the faith of god it's probable
it can be
that continuation and we would not be
possible though
without the the brave leadership of the
first lady
and also her incredible kindness and
generosity and letting us use her home
um the america's house for this and so
mrs trump thank you for hosting this
event here in your home
and allowing us to hear the stories of
the people that are out there from
across the country and really doing
god's work
and bringing forth the economy on the
rebound
and the personal stories on the rebound
so thank you very much
thank you
thank you director carl thank you so
much for
sharing your stories and congratulations
to all of you
please work hard and get rid of stigma
that's what we need we need to talk more
and more and more people need to hear it
and i just want to thank you again for
joining us here
at the white house today for this
important conversation
our nation's drug problem will not be
solved
by one person it will take champions
and care families communities
places and of worship and people like
you
coming together to give our children the
very best future
i appreciate your time and dedication on
this important
issue be safe and god bless you god
bless your families
and god bless our great nation thank you
you
