"It is time we all became recovery carriers." - Bill White
Tom Hill, "Why would I hide this?" | J3 Recovery Podcast


Chris interviews Tom Hill, then Senior Advisor for Addiction and Recovery at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Tom was in Raleigh to speak at our 5th Annual Capital Area Rally for Recovery in September of 2016. Check out the amazing positive media coverage from that event. Chris and Tom originally met at a recovery messaging training organized by the National Alliance of Recovery Residences in May 2012. This fortunate connection led to our inaugural Rally that year and our subsequent membership in The Association of Recovery Community Organizations (ARCO). Read more...

Your story has power
Join the #NCRecoveryMovement!


Your Advocacy Day Trainers
Knowledge is power

Advocacy 101: 
A quick primer on advocacy and why now is the time to advocate

Kathleen Lowe  is an advocacy consultant with Addiction Professionals of North Carolina and Principal of Lowe Consulting. She has more than twenty years of non-profit and public sector experience. Kathleen has spent her career making change through public policy analysis and advisement, advocacy and corporate and foundation relations. She managed successful NC political campaigns and provided legislative analysis and policy advice at the national level. She holds a Master of Social Work/Public Policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago and holds a Certificate of International Human Rights Law from the London School of Economics.

The Power of Recovery Language: 
Words are Important

Richie Tannerhill, a person in long-term recovery, became a NC Certified Peer Support Specialist in 2012. Today, he is also a peer support curriculum trainer at Vaya Health, a public-managed healthcare organization. Richie is a certified facilitator for Wellness Recovery Action Plan Training, a self-directed recovery and wellness process. In 2013, he was named a NC Recovery Champion of the Year. A husband, father, youth pastor and Little League coach, he visits schools, treatment facilities, jails, and other institutions to share his powerful story of hope with others.

Recovery Initiation: 
The Right Help When It is Needed Most

Chris Budnick is inarguably the de facto leader of the NC Recovery Movement. Chris is the Executive Director of Healing Transitions, the Founding Board Chair of Recovery Communities of North Carolina and a person in sustained recovery since 1993.  He has been working in the addiction treatment and recovery field since 1993. Chris holds a Master of Social Work from East Carolina University and has been fully licensed as a Licensed Clinical Addiction Specialist since 2001; a Licensed Clinical Social Worker since 2002; and a Clinical Certified Supervisor since 2003. Chris has rallied a vanguard of people in recovery, family members, allies, and SUD service providers to insist that North Carolinians deserve adequate and appropriate treatment services on demand. This movement was galvanized by his nationally recognized humble admission that he has been part of the problem.

Recovery Maintenance: 
Recovery Supports in Every Community

Kristen K. Harper is the Executive Director of Recovery Communities of North Carolina. Prior to Kristen's joining our team, she had the great fortune to be the first, full-time Executive Director for the Association of Recovery Schools (ARS), where she assisted in the creation, sustainability and accreditation of recovery high schools across the country.  As the Collegiate Recovery Community Replication Coordinator for Texas Tech University's Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery from 2011-2013, Kristen provided technical assistance to over 80 universities seeking to create and manage collegiate recovery programs in all regions of the country. As a person living in long-term recovery for over 15 years, Kristen has dedicated her life to helping others access recovery support services, locally, nationally and internationally. Kristen holds a Master of Collaborate Education from Mercer University and is a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor.

Recovery Actualization: 
The Freedom to Live a Full Life and Give Back

Kurtis Taylor is an Outreach Worker and Reentry Coordinator for Oxford Houses of NC, a non-profit network of 235 (statewide) mutual aid recovery homes.  Kurtis has been delivered from the disease of addiction since 2002 and has worked with Oxford House since 2004. Mr. Taylor's work with helping incarcerated citizens transition back into the community through Oxford House is being used as a model throughout the country. Kurtis served for four years as the chairperson for the NC Substance Use Disorder Federation, as chairman of the board of directors for the Alcohol & Drug Council of NC, as chairman of the NC Consumer and Families Advisory Committee, as a board member of Pardoned by Christ Prison Ministry. He currently serves as a member of the Governor's Task Force on Mental Health and Substance Use. Kurtis holds an Associate's degree in Human Services and Substance Abuse Counseling from Wake Technical Community College and is currently a social work student at Shaw University.

This is what recovery looks like!
Tell us why you are going to Advocacy Day


From Haywood to New Hanover, folks are sharing their reasons for attending the 2nd Annual NC Addiction Recovery Advocacy Day. We all have stories and those stories have power. People and families in recovery, allies and advocates, families of loss, providers and policy makers -  read why your fellow recovery community members will be gathering in Raleigh on February 28th . 

Join the #NCRecoveryMovement and tell us why you are coming to #NCARAD17! Become the face and voice of recovery.

"Addiction is visible everywhere in this culture, but the transformative power of recovery is hidden behind closed doors. It is time we all became recovery carriers. It is time we helped our community, our nation, and our world recover. To achieve this, we must become recovery. We must be the face and voice of recovery. We must be the living future of recovery." - Bill White
Visions of Recovery
from Executive Director Kristen Harper

The first time I visited the United States Capitol to advocate for recovery support services I wore the wrong pair of shoes. No, seriously, it is not a good idea to put on a suit with heels and try to change an entire system. I should have listened to my guide and recovery advocacy warrior, Carol McDaid when she told me that the first two rules of recovery advocacy are 1) Tell the truth, make sure you know the facts and can relay the information in a simple manner, 2) wear comfortable shoes because being an effective advocate is hard work, especially for those of us busy with the legwork. Our country is going to see a lot of activism as we move through the next four years. It will be critical for the recovery movement to stay at the forefront of policy reform. With the additional noise that is now at the state and national level, knowing what we, as a community, are advocating for is more important now than in years prior. My favorite tagline for this year and potentially the next four years, INVEST IN RECOVERY CAPITAL because your return on investment will be HUGE! What is recovery capital you may ask? "Recovery capital is the breadth and depth of internal and external resources that can be drawn upon to initiate and sustain recovery from substance use disorder" (Cloud and Granfield, 2004). Simply put, an investment in home, community, health, and purpose is an investment in our future. By supporting the NC Addiction Recovery Advocacy Day, February 28th, 2017, you can show your support for a new direction in our state.


Funded in part by the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant, CFDA Number: 93.959, in conjunction with the North Carolina Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services and by donations from generous community partners.


Recovery Communities of North Carolina | [email protected] | 919-231-0248 | www.RCNC.org
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