Stomping the Stigma in Rutland

(WCAX)
Published: Sep. 21, 2019 at 7:58 PM EDT
Email This Link
Share on Pinterest
Share on LinkedIn

There's a new effort in Rutland to curb drug and substance abuse.

On Saturday, Rutland Turning Point hosted its first ever Stomping the Stigma walk. It focuses on erasing the stigma, increasing community support, encouraging people to seek the help they need and celebrating the progress people have made in recovery.

"This disease needs to be treated. The victories need to be celebrated. That's what we're doing here today," said Mayor David Allaire. "I think we have our issues just like everyone else. What's different here in Rutland is we stand up and we confront the issues and we try to address them in a proactive way. We do it in a lot of different ways. This event is typical of the way we want to talk about it, celebrate our victories."

Dozens of people showed up to Main Street Park for the event in support Turning Point and the people seeking sobriety. The executive director Tracie Hauck says the center serves more than 600 people a month.

"Turning Point provides peer support for people suffering with substance abuse disorder. We're supportive of multiple paths of recovery so we kind of meet people where they're at. We offer recovery coaching," Hauck said. "We offer different support groups. Our center also goes into our local correctional facility three days a week up at the jail for inmates who wish to partake."

WCAX News spoke with one woman seeking help. Cynthia Boyd told WCAX she recently celebrated 12 years of being in recovery but staying clean is a constant battle.

"This is a journey we're going to be on for the rest of our lives," Boyd said. "People seem to think 'oh you're not using now. You must be healed.' No. It's an everyday thing. We value our recovery and it's important to us. We do what we can to stay sober and just help the next person."

Boyd said she used drugs for 25 years before seeking rehabilitation. She believes the stigma forces a lot of people to feel too ashamed and embarrassed to admit they need help. She thinks the more support people have, the sooner they can start their journey to recovery. She said peer support helped her get back on her feet.

"Other people just like me who had similar stories- maybe not the same stories- is what really helped me through to see that I was not a bad person," she said.

Boyd is urging people not to judge those suffering from addiction because she says you never know who is actually in need.

"You can never ever tell. You don't know who you might run into who is a person in recovery. It could be anybody from the statehouse to your next door neighbor and you just might not know," Boyd said.

Hauck, who is also in recovery, said healing is a lifelong process.

"It's not like you have a big epiphany and you never have that urge to use again. A lot of people use substances as their coping mechanism and they need support to find new coping mechanisms," Hauck said. "When people are working their way to recovery and they're improving their life, you need to support them. You can't keep them labeled as an addict or a felon. You need to look at what they're doing now."

Turning Point hopes to host the Stomping the Stigma event every year.