Recovery Day BC: Celebrating a Proud and Strong Community

Addiction Recovery Stories

Regardless of what people say, changing behaviors is easy. It’s maintaining the change that’s hard; creating new and sustainable ways of thinking and behaving. With New Year’s resolutions people often run out of steam quickly after making them because they don’t have the needed support and community to succeed. But the stakes with addiction are far higher than an unused gym membership or a vision board collecting dust. The opioid epidemic has killed hundreds of thousands of people over the past 20 years, and it is important that we provide the necessary support and visibility to help those still caught in addiction to recover and live happy healthy lives. That is why it is so important to support Recovery Day BC and Motion M-10 which will arrive in the House of Commons on November 23, 2022 and officially recognize September as National Recovery Awareness Month in Canada.

History of Recovery Day

In 1989, The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in the United Sates launched National Recovery Month to increase awareness around mental health and addiction. Canada launched its first recovery campaign in 2006 in Ontario. Since then, cities across the country have adopted Recovery Day celebrating throughout September. BC Recovery Day started in 2012 with humble beginnings and is now the largest mental health and addiction awareness festival in Canada. That is thanks to the amazing recovery community that has developed in British Columbia and all the treatment facilities and centres working together to build recovery capital for everyone.

Recovery Capital & Collaboration

Recovery Capital is the breadth and depth of internal and external resources that can be drawn upon to initiate and sustain long term recovery, which essentially boils down to the amount of connection and community available to support individuals. Recovery Capital is not a fixed value, it decreases in active addiction and increases during sustained recovery. Generally, it is grouped in 4 categories: internal: human and physical; and external: social and cultural. This could include everything from nutrition, housing, and education to mindfulness, peer resources, early intervention, and multiple pathways to recovery with Recovery-focused systems of care. Recovery Day BC is the culmination of multiple pieces of recovery capital and supports the diverse and immense community that has grown in British Columbia.

Recovery Day is only possible because of the immense collaboration by the many mental health & addictions service providers throughout British Columbia. This includes:

• Last Door Recovery – Last Door Recovery Society
• Westminster House – Westminster House Society
• Cedars at Cobble Hill – Cedars at Cobble Hill
• Together We Can – Together We Can – Addiction Recovery & Education Society
• Orchard Recovery – Orchard Recovery Center
• Turning Point – Turning Point Recovery Society
• Canadian Centre on Substance Use & Addiction – Canadian Centre on Substance Use / Centre canadien sur les dépendances
• One Life Recovery Society – One Life Recovery Society
• iRecover – iRecover Treatment Centres
• Canadian Addiction Treatment Centres – CATC – Canadian Addiction Treatment Centres

---

Recovery Day BC 10^th Anniversary

Uptown New Westminster Saturday, Sept. 10^th 12:00pm – 6:00pm

6th & 6th Stage Program:

12:30 – 1:30 Eagle Eyes

2:00 – 3:00 Busty and the Base

3:30 – 4:30 Snotty Nose Rez Kids

5:00 – 6:00 Tom Cochrane

Kids Stage Program, 6th Street & 5th Avenue

12:00 – 12:15 Will’s Jams Opening

12:15 – 1:00 Penny Pom Pom

1:00 – 1:10 Cosmo Circus

1:30 – 2:15 Karima Bollywood Dance Workshop

2:15 – 2:25 Cosmo Circus

3:00 – 3:45 Fred Penner

4:00 – 4:50 Will’s Jam

4:50 – 5:00 Cosmo Circus

5:05 – 6:00 Magic Show – Gary Savard

BCARA BC Addiction Recovery Association Stage, Belmont Street

12:00 Bungalow

1:15 Will Clements

2:30 Amber Tsang

3:35 Tess Anderson

5:00 Sugar Fungus

PLUS 2 MORE STAGES!

My Uptown New West Stage features – Cake Walk Band & DJs

5th St and 6th Ave Stage – Royal City Square Dancing