The petition is easily accessible; it is posted on our Facebook page and user friendly
At Restored Connections Peer Center, we witness daily the impact of peer support on our recovery community. We often get to see people when they are first contemplating recovery, then seeing the steps being taken toward healing, stability, and hope. Our peers help guide, support, and inspire that recovery is possible and get to see firsthand when a community member takes the reigns to be back on their two feet, guiding themselves towards sustainability and good health. It became clear that we needed to validate how essential our services are for Lane County, so we turned to the voices of the community of the people we serve.
Our goal was straightforward yet powerful: gathering signatures and stories to demonstrate that our services are not just another resource center- it is a lifeline of the recovery community.
Restored Connections Peer Center is always about team-effort and the same mindset was put into rolling out the petition to the community.
-The petition was easily accessible; it was posted on our Facebook page only to ensure no confusion on where it would be found.
-We did outreach to the community with tablets on hand, to make sure those who wanted their voices to be heard could do so, even if the means necessary wasn’t available to them.
-We used our voices- People understood the importance of this petition, Staff and community members who felt inclined to do so were sharing the petition with others they knew who lives may have been impacted by peer support.
-The impact statements given by those who signed the petition amplified the personal stories that are attached to RCPC being a lifeline. Many of these stories exemplified the stability, support, and community that exists within the walls of our peer center.
The response to the petition was immense. In just a short time, we gathered almost 1,000 signatures that almost all of them had an impact statement attached to them envisioning hope, transformation, and life changing services being received.
The impact was not only seen but felt with real voices, real stories.
These stories stood out more than anything else on the petition. Not just one person, but many, said they would have been on the streets after detox if it hadn’t been for RCPC to find them a bed at a recovery house that every day. It was said a couple of different times that the support received by their peer support helped them become strong in their recovery, able to get their children back, and mend those relationships. The voices were heard and felt, and the names were more than just names. The signatures were a testament to the necessity of peer led recovery services here in Eugene and Lane County.
Even in this uncertain time, we remain committed to providing the highest quality service we always have provided. Each person who walks into our center seeking a recovery lifestyle deserves to have access to peer support. The momentum from this petition will help this effort to advocate for more resources, more funding, and more opportunities for those who are in need.
To every person who signed our petition, shared it with the petition, shared their story, or supported this effort- thank you. Your voices matter, and together, we are proving that Eugene and Lane County not only need Restored Connections Peer Center for a healthier community in the future, but these services are also vital.
