BEMIDJI, Minn. — Bemidji State University, The Drug Free Coalition of North Central Minnesota and Bemidji High School present “On the Broken Road of Recovery,” by award-winning author and recovering addict William C. Moyers. The presentation will be held Wednesday, Nov. 28, at 7 p.m. in the Bemidji High School Auditorium and is free and open to the public.
Wherever he goes, Moyers meets people who struggle against the powerful grip of addiction and don’t know who to talk with or where to turn. Recovery is often a reality that too few of them know about, mainly because of the stigma perpetuated by shame, silence and indifference by those of us who know the solution in our personal or professional lives.
Moyers’ call to action to unmask this stigma is a powerful reminder that changing the terms of the debate for the next generation starts with each and every one of us.
The goals and objectives of Moyers’ presentation are to: identify and understand the origins and stigma of addiction; define the role of the audience in taking necessary steps to promote the power and possibility of recovery; and give tips on how to talk to the next generation of youth about addiction, treatment and recovery.
“My shame and my drug use ran along parallel lines until they eventually merged and became one,” Moyers said. “I drank because I was ashamed, and I was ashamed because I drank. When want became need the nature of my problem changed from using too much and too often to not being able to stop using. From the outside, I still looked like a healthy, balanced, ethical young man. On the inside, however, I was raging against everything and everyone, especially myself. I didn’t understand what was happening to me and because no one else could see it or name it for what it was, I was left alone with my tormented self.”
Today, Moyers is the vice president for external affairs of the Hazelden Foundation, a non-profit organization based Center City, Minn. Moyers’ work focuses on improving the public’s understanding of issues related to treatment, addiction and recovery.
For more information, contact Jay Passa, health education coordinator at Bemidji State Student Health Services, at (218) 755-2080.
About the Drug Free Coalition of North Central Minnesota
Since 2002 the Drug Free Coalition of North Central Minnesota has been engaged in participative planning and implementing strategies to prevent, reduce and treat youth alcohol and illegal drug use and violence in the region. The coalition consists of over 50 members, representing a variety of sectors in our community including health care, government, schools, higher education, mental health care, law enforcement, courts and corrections, social services, faith communities, parents and youth. The Coalition has received many accolades for its work over the past five years, most recently winning the 2007 Minnesota Rural Health Team award.
About the Hazelden Foundation
For individuals, families, and communities struggling with addiction to alcohol and other drugs, the non-profit Hazelden Foundation helps people transform their lives by providing the highest quality treatment and continuing care services, education, research, and publishing products available today. Since its 1949 founding in a rural Minnesota lakeside farmhouse, Hazelden has grown into one of the world’s largest, most respected, and best-known private alcohol and drug rehabilitation centers.