Pulsing the membership

In my previous blog I talked about the “all-recovery group”. It welcomes 12-Step, Christian-based, methadone, medication-assisted, co-occurring, family members, and community members – or, if you like, all non-denominational groups! But its main purpose is to provide an opportunity for people to come in and to talk about recovery.

Well, on Monday 4th October, I joined the group and I wish to thank the following for putting me at my ease and making me feel so welcomed: Linda, Victoria, Primitive, Nykeda, Christine, Diane, Dale, Lyssav, Daryl and Tanya.

As one of the members said, having listened to my share, “This illness is real, whether you’re from Wales, Hartford, the Bronx or Timbuktu!”

Tuesday at 9.30am I attended a staff meeting at CCAR, Hartford. What impressed me most about this meeting was the apparent smooth-running of the whole organization. Phil has gathered around him a formidable team with each member totally dedicated to the cause of promoting a more ‘person-centred, holistic, family-centred and recovery focused system of care’. Included in this recovery system of care is Recovery Capital. Recovery Capital is the level of internal and external resources that can be used to begin, and then maintain, recovery from severe alcohol and other drug problems. There are three different types of Recovery Capital: personal, family or social, and community. I’m going to learn more about these next week in Vermont, incidentally, with Mark Ames and colleagues as I join the Recovery Coach Training Academy for a 5 day course in Camp Spofford.

I then left the meeting early in order to travel down to Deep River and to meet up with my friend, Jimmy DeLano, who took me to the local Rotary Club meeting where I spoke about The Living Room Cardiff project. Thanks for the warm welcome everyone and yes, I might even consider accepting Tim’s kind invitation to preach at his local church - when I next come calling!

In the evening I joined Bob and Nancy Bolgard, Tina, Shirley and Danny and Sherry at Susan Davies Sit’s beautiful home for my second Welsh Society dinner. I presented the society with a Sir Winston Churchill Commemorative Crown and a tea towel, a gift from Churchill Fellows Wales, in appreciation of the wonderful welcome and hospitality that has been extended to me during my visit to Connecticut. And there’s more to come! I’ll get to meet a further 25 of my fellow Welshmen and women in a dinner in Massachusetts on Saturday!

Today, Wednesday 6th October, I was meant to travel to Willimantic to meet Diane Potvin, Director of the Willimantic Recovery Community Centre (WRCC) and Kathy Wyall, Volunteer Coordinator at WRCC. However, I called by Phil Valentine’s office first thing and there I stayed - talking and putting the world to rights. The discussion continued over lunch with Normajean, Volunteer & Training Manager and Dina Repincz, Director of Development at CCAR. Then, after we returned to the CCAR offices, more talking! And, as if that wasn’t enough, Phil invited me to his home this evening for dinner and to meet his lovely wife, Sandy, and his children, Joshua (aged 16), Samantha (14), Mathew (8) and little Mary (5). The end to a perfect day jam-packed with recovery talk and spirituality.

One of the things we talked about in passing was “Pulsing the membership”.

“Pulsing the membership” is a term coined by Don Coyhis, the founder of White Bison, a non-profit charitable organization whose mission is to assist in bringing 100 Native American communities into healing by 2010. He’s a Native American and an elder in his tribe and in the recovery community as well. He talked about communicating with his community by “pulsing” them with a weekly report he’d send out every Friday.

And what intrigued Phil most about that phrase was the association between pulse and heartbeat. Pulsing suggests that we get to hear the heartbeat of the organisation.

He went on, “As I was talking to you earlier today, it occurred to me that I had been “pulsing” our organisation” regularly with a ‘Hooked on Recovery’ article every two weeks and that I had stopped doing it.

So I think I need to get back to doing that. It seems important to me that regular “pulsing” of the community; that regular being in touch; that heartbeat of the organisation, needs to be there and to be heard loud and clear.

So I think it’s a cool thing for leaders in the Recovery movement to consider how they are keeping in touch. What’s the heartbeat of the organisation they lead? What’s the rhythm? What’s the pulse?

What music am I listening to tonight? Air on a G String played by Frank Shipway & the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Nos dawch pawb a diolch am ddilyn fy hynt yn America. Good night everyone and thanks for reading my blog.

Tomorrow I head for an early-morning meeting with Mary Green and a visit to CCAR in Bridgeport.