Reality Check will use funding to support current recovery services and to provide an annual Recovery Coach Training Series and a Recovery Friendly Employer Conference in southwestern New Hampshire. - Reality Check is a 501c3 nonprofit in Jaffrey, NH applying for the FY 2023 Congressional Directive Spending Projects grant (NOFO FG-23-099) to further expand access to community-based addiction recovery services and resources to improve the quality of life for people with substance use disorder and co-occurring mental health disorders. Research shows providing community- and evidence-based recovery supports and comprehensive interventions increases the likelihood of successful and long-term recovery and reduces the likelihood of relapse and setbacks. Reality Check will enhance current recovery services and expand Monadnock Region partner networks to further reduce stigma and increase access to peer recovery support services by conducting community outreach efforts and developing collaborative partnerships with like-missioned agencies, through the education and training of employers, schools, and hospitals, and through generous resource dissemination. Currently, 50% of Reality Check’s Board of Directors are in recovery, 75% of staff are in recovery, and 100% of contractors are people in recovery. Reality Check is the recipient of a 4-year SAMHSA Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking, and a 5-year Center for Disease Control & Prevention Drug-Free Communities grant, both of which allow for providing prevention education to three school districts and the communities that serve them to prevent youth and adult use of alcohol and other drugs. In September 2022, Reality Check was awarded a 3-year SAMHSA Building Communities of Recovery grant allowing us to continue providing and expanding access to comprehensive recovery services. Reality Check provides recovery coaching, support groups, telephone support services, tele-health sessions, brief assessments and crisis intervention, policies modification support, and addiction training and presentations both at our offices and onsite for employers, school districts, and hospitals. Annually, Reality Check provides the Recovery Coach Training Series which includes the 5-day Recovery Coach Academy, 2-day Recovery Ethics, 1-day Suicide Prevention, 1-day HIV/AIDS Prevention, and the Recovery Coach 2.0. To grow the behavioral health workforce, Reality Check offers support to secure the NH Certified Recovery Support Worker credential. Reality Check provides addiction trainings including Mental Health First Aid, Trauma Responsive Services, Narcan Administration, and Addiction 101 outlining addiction’s economic impact, its stages, signs & symptoms of use, language & stigma, signs of mental health challenges and overdose, and resources. To raise awareness around critical social issues, Reality Check offers a year-round free film series on addiction, recovery, mental health, bullying, self-injury, suicide, and alcoholism. Services are evidence-based and reflect region-identified community needs. Reality Check partners with statewide recovery community centers, local and state governments, treatment centers, the Cheshire County House of Corrections, employers, colleges, hospitals, and behavioral health agencies. This Congressional funding will enable Reality Check to expand partnerships, offer an additional Recovery Coach Training Series and a Recovery Friendly Employer Conference, and to pay Recovery Coaches to continue providing access to wrap-around peripheral resources for housing, employment, childcare, transportation, legal help, and family reunification, measurable improving social and economic functioning and people’s overall quality of life.
