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September Is Recovery Month!

This September marks the 17th annual celebration of National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month (Recovery Month). Across the Nation, communities will be participating in activities to acknowledge the efforts of individuals in recovery from substance use disorders and the ongoing support of their families and friends.

This year, Recovery Month's theme is "Join the Voices for Recovery: Build a Stronger, Healthier Community." Events and activities will help raise awareness throughout the year about the effectiveness of treatment and recovery. Activities will also focus on how people are overcoming stigma, discrimination, and other barriers to treatment and recovery support services.

Toolkit Available

To help reach local audiences, SAMHSA's Center for Substance Abuse Treatment has created a comprehensive planning toolkit—available on the Recovery Month Web site—in conjunction with national planning partners, including treatment providers and other community organizations.

This toolkit includes promotional event ideas, planning instructions, and ways to speak effectively with the media.

To help encourage local media to cover Recovery Month activities, sample materials include a media advisory, a news release, and an "op-ed" opinion piece. In addition to the toolkit and news about Recovery Month events, the Web site provides media updates and archived Web casts.

Online, toolkit materials are available for download in PDF format. For a hard copy, call SAMHSA's Clearinghouse at 1 (800) 662-HELP. And for more information, visit www.recoverymonth.gov.