I really am so excited to open this new area of the website! We started with a little advocacy section on our info/news page, but have now outgrown that and couldn't be happier!
If you have a project that you are working on....something that you might have done in the past...something that you would like to do...or ANYTHING you would like to see added to this page, simply drop me a line!
We'd love to hear from you!
Carol Sholiton - Methadone Support Org.
This article has been a lonnng time coming! Hoss Kitts is a Super Advocate and someone I am PROUD to call "friend". We are all grateful for and aware of the wonderful support that he gives everyone on his We Speak Methadone forums...or his "baby", lol. However....that is just part of what Hoss does. He was also NAMA's Chapter Director for the entire state of Virginia and in that capacity has been there for patients needing bigtime help......as in going to court etc. At present he is now chapter director of Southwest Va/Southern WV. So it's no surprise that Hoss received the award for NAMA's Advocate of the Year for 2004....that was presented to him at the AATOD conference that year. (see photo at top)
Recently I got to watch as he helped clear up a miscommunication with a clinic in West Virginia that a patient was having a hard time with. He did it quickly and without going into all the gory details.... all's well that end's well! He has an understanding of MMT....education of the drug itself and the rules and regs that go along with it....and the compassion and heart to deal with the patients that are scared for whatever reason. I've said numerous times that we need to clone Hoss for ALL the states!
All of this from a little 5th grader who started playing saxophone and who's dream was always to be a professional musician. Hoss went through high school, made All County Band 4 years in a row, from his freshman year, made All District Band in his junior year, and ALL STATE Band in his senior year. Well, Hoss.....you may not have ended up with the musical career you dreamt of....but you are definitely one of MY heroes!
The Recovery Talk Network (RTN) was formed to reduce the stigma of the disease of addiction by providing listeners with a wide array of people who share their recovery or how they help others recover.
Guests include authors, doctors, as well as members of 12 Step anonymous programs and others who found alternative paths to recovery.
After working with a different network, Larry W. launched RTN in March of 2007. With his co-host Constantine and Wednesday host Richard C., RTN airs live from 8-10 (Pacific) Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights as carried by cable systems in 33 states in over 11 million homes by CRN Digital Talk (www.crntalk.com) and in Boston and the Chicago area by Langer Broadcasting. In 2008, they intend to expand to more nights and cities (with the help of additional host and sponsorship). His first recovery radio stint was when he created and hosted “There Is a Solution” for a year and a half in 1990 and 1991.
On a more personal note...Larry got sober in 1975 in N. Miami and is also recovering from compulsive overeating thanks to Overeaters Anonymous (OA) and Compulsive Eaters Anonymous (CEA-HOW).
I will be a guest on RTN in the next few weeks and will post the date/time as soon as I know it!
Hello, fellow advocates - We need you! I have been contacted by a wonderful organization in the Kingdom of Nepal...asking for our help, suggestions. Nepal is a country inbetween India and China, as best I understand it....geography was never my forte.
Nepal is on the verge of starting Methadone Program with the Support from
UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) and the Nepal Government, however they are a few so called abstinent pundits who have started writing hate-mails to government, donors and users activists. They did try to have meetings and consultation with them and most of the ex-users are convinced that this program is much needed. However there are few remaining extremists who still are writing hate mail to them.
They have tried writing them back with scientific
evidence but they are so closed minded that they insist they are
doing it for the sake of dollars.
If anyone could share ideas on tackling this issue it would be very much appreciated! They fear that if this continues, the government might get influenced and decide to cancel their plans for the methadone program.
"Dear Carol -
Finally we did it!
The MMT program has been launched in Nepal from 30th October 2007.
Thanks to you that you provided us with moral support and guidance."
**Project below should be up and running again shortly! Sorry for the inconvenience....please stop back soon!**
Even forty years after it's conception as part of addiction treatment, methadone maintenance treatment continues to be one the most highly stigmatized and misunderstood forms of addiction treatment. Although its success rate far surpasses that of any other addiction treatment or detox and it is considered to be the "gold-standard" of opiate addiction treatment by the United States Government, it continues to face prejudice by members of the same communities that it helps to mold, as well as bias from uneducated health professionals and an alarming trend of inaccurate reports by the media. We are here to show that methadone maintenance works. We are here to show that we are deserving members of this society...we are, among many other things, your teachers, bankers, entertainers, executives, and good parents raising responsible, healthy children...and we are methadone maintenance treatment.
We've created a button for anyone who wishes to link to this site. Please right-click and save the image to your own server. Your web site need not be about Methadone Maintenance or addicton- we only ask that any site displaying this image and/or a link to this page be free of any hate propaganda or otherwise inappropriate content.
Please link this image back to:
http://theredbirdboutique.com/MAT_project/
You may also display this image in message board signatures, e-mails, and anywhere else you can think of! We need to spread the word that we truly are the faces of Methadone Maintenance Treatment.
Would you like to donate to this project? We need materials,
services, and help with requests for corporate donations.
We would really love to see this project take off on a large
scale, so if you would like to contribute, please e-mail
the project manager or donate directly through PayPal using the email liz@theredbirdboutique.com Thank you for your support.
......I first received this message...
READ MORE! - "GREAT update for Nepal"
