A $250 Check and the Long Road to myCHOiCE
More than twelve years ago, I was working as a recovery services coordinator for the Access to Recovery Program (ATR) while consulting with the Massachusetts Bureau of Substance Addiction Services (BSAS) as a recovery coach trainer. I was referring people to local “big box” providers for coaching services, but too often, what they received was far from coaching.
Eventually, I called the good folks at BSAS and asked, “How do I get these referrals?” Their response was perplexing: “Do you have a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization?” After a few moments, my deer-in-the-headlights expression relaxed, and I answered, “Not yet.”
That was the summer of 2017. I did my research, found a hole-in-the-wall office in an old Holyoke building that was being rehabbed, and set out to find a path forward. When I shared the idea with one of my mentors and asked whether she would serve on the board, she asked how much the rent was. Then she pulled out her checkbook and wrote me a check for $250.
In all sincerity, the fact that someone believed in me that much made that check feel like it was worth $10 million.
Developing CHOiCE Recovery Coaching was now my duty, and there was no turning back.
I truly had no idea what I had gotten myself into and sometimes I still don’t. In 2018, we officially founded CHOiCE Recovery Coaching and started down a path that led to:
- National recognition from NAADAC for all CHOiCE Recovery Coaching curricula.
- Our Infinite Pathways curriculum became the namesake of the BSAS conference, Infinite Pathways of Recovery & Wellness, and presented it nationwide through NAADAC and internationally at the Lisbon Addictions Conference.
- Multilingual telephone recovery support during the pandemic, when we were the only organization training recovery coaches in the Commonwealth.
- Presenting at the national Joint Meeting for Youth Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery, sponsored by Mass General and Harvard’s Recovery Research Institute, in 2024, 2025, and 2026.
- A contract with the Connecticut Department of Children and Families to develop a 60-hour foundational curriculum for young people and families statewide.
- A workforce development partnership with the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission that trained multiple cohorts from 2021 through 2025.
- Placing recovery coaches in a Western Massachusetts emergency department.
- The development of Winthrop’s Community Law Enforcement Assisted Recovery (CLEAR) diversion program.
- A partnership with Clark University’s Liberal Arts for Returning Citizens program to train formerly incarcerated people entering the behavioral health workforce.
- A RiZE Massachusetts grant to develop a mental health curriculum for recovery coaches.
From financial hardship to heartache and loss, there has been so much more in between. Every milestone is the product of our humble and mighty team, the people who kept things moving, sometimes ever so slowly, but always steadfastly.
Our new website brings our work together through three clear offerings:
myCHOiCE Workforce Development: designing peer programs and fostering greater connection with their communities and staff.
myCHOiCE Learning Academy: supporting the development of PWLLE into peer professionals to build meaningful connections with the people they serve.
myCHOiCE Coaching: supporting participants’ connection with themselves.
We are coming up on ten years. It feels like yesterday, and it feels like forever. That is the long road. My father often said, “Go slow, and you’ll get there fast.” Regardless of the speed, being on the road is what matters. We are doing our best to clear that road so we can better support everyone we meet along the way.
So, how do you get on the long road and stay on it?
First, you believe in what you are doing with all your might, even when the people around you do not yet see what you see. You support others regardless of where they come from or whether anyone is paying you and most often when they are not. You invest in yourself, learn everything you can, and seek out the people who believe deeply in their own work.
No matter how many potholes, roadblocks, storms, or blue Mondays you encounter, keep your eyes on the horizon. Remember that every step taken is one step closer to everywhere. When you look back, you will see how far you have come.
Now take a deep breath. Look down at your feet, where you are. Look back, see how far you’ve come. With the next breath, turn back around and keep moving forward, ..because you can.
