National Recovery Month

September is National Recovery Month. The prologue to this was (is) Overdose Awareness Day, where those who have passed away from an overdose were remembered, and their lives — as well as their fight for sobriety — were solemnly celebrated. On Saturday, August 31, friends, family members, and acquaintances of those finally at peace brought luminarias with electric tea lights, as well as decorated bags with the names of those who’ve passed, to the seawall in Vineyard Haven.

In that evening’s twilight, those who’ve gone were remembered. It was a fitting prologue to National Recovery Month.

National Recovery Month began in 1989 to promote and support new evidence-based treatment and recovery practices, our country’s recovery community, and the dedication of service providers and communities who make recovery in all its forms possible.

The Red House Peer Recovery Support Center here on the Vineyard lands solidly in the service provider category. In existence since early 2020 (and temporarily sidelined due to COVID), the Red House is the Island’s best-kept secret when it comes to a judgment-free and activity-friendly place that those in recovery (as well as those not quite there yet) can go for true peer support. And it’s not like once you get there, you have to spill your guts about all you’re going through. You can go there and just … be. But if you feel like talking — about ANYTHING (your struggle if you want to), you can. That’s what they’re there for.

The Red House, located at 12 Beach Road, is right in front of the M.V. Hospital. We pass by it every day and, sadly, way too many of us haven’t even known it. For those who struggle with not only substance use disorder, but anyone with a mental health compromise, the Red House is the Island’s best-kept support system secret.

“It’s a dual diagnosis, really — we look into the stigma of not only substance use disorder, but of anyone with, say, depression and/or anxiety,” says the director of recovery management services, Robert Cropper. “We concentrate on both.”

So-called “dry events” on the Vineyard are mostly overshadowed by all the “wet ones” (so to speak). Drinking is such a huge part of our culture, so much so that there’s probably not a day or two that goes by where someone won’t say, “We should get together for a drink.” It’s just the way it’s always been. So I suppose it’s not such a shock that sober happenings on the Island are mostly not known about.

But they’re there. For example, the Martha’s Vineyard Museum’s off-season “Friday Night Reset” is a perfect place to stop in for a few hours and play games, listen to music or poetry, socialize with like-minded folk, and have some really decent snacks. Last fall and winter, that was a thing that folks looking for teetotalling times mostly didn’t have any idea about.

Same goes for the Red House. You want a safe place, a peaceful place — an environment you can go to to quiet your mind, or talk to the like-minded and understanding? The little red house in front of the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital truly is, without hyperbole, just the perfect place for your own personal reboot.

But it’s not like if you go to the Red House, it’s going to be either deadly silence or an overabundance of “caring and sharing time.” Sure, you can have that. But this month — and all year long, for that matter — there are plenty of events you can avail yourselves of if, of course, you’re one who is fighting to stay sober and want to associate with folks who “get it.”

“We’re doing a combination sound bath and NADA ear acupuncture clinic for detoxing,” says Cropper. “That’s happening in two sessions on Saturday, Sept. 14.” Preregistration is required.

For anyone curious about this — National Acupuncture Detoxification Association ear acupuncture — this protocol has been shown to diminish cravings for (and withdrawal from) alcohol, drugs, or even cigarettes. Also, this form of acupuncture can be used to help manage gambling problems and food addiction.

Cropper continued, “We’re also doing an Eastville Beach cleanup on Wednesday morning the 18th, at 11 am, because it’s the area where some recovery groups meet. So it’s been adopted as our ‘home beach.’ And so we’re going for a beach cleanup.”

The “Slough Farm Creativity Connection” is happening on Monday, Sept. 23, at noon at Slough Farm in Edgartown. “We did one of these events before at Slough Farm — it was called ‘Foraging for Teas,’ where folks scrounged material you could make a nice tea out of.” When asked if engaging someone creatively promotes inner healing of their addiction or psychological compromise, Cropper said, “Absolutely. Whenever you engage these folks creatively, it helps a lot. Anything that allows someone to get out of their normal routine is very effective.”

Toward the end of this month (the 28th, which is a Saturday), it will be hosting an Open House, then a Potluck Barbecue, and finally a “Silent Disco.” This is “Recovery Day” at the Red House. “It’s just purely for fun, and something which allows people to just not think about what’s going on in their lives at that moment. But they’ll be with a group of people who are in recovery,” says Cropper.

In case you’re curious about the whole “Silent Disco” thing (as I was), here it is in a nutshell:

Everyone has a headset connected to a central receiver. and everyone can tune in. There are three channels to tune in to. And though the playlist has yet to be determined, these channels can range anywhere from disco to reggae, to soul. So you can tune in and dance “silently.”

From the outside looking in, it may very well look a bit helter-skelter. But those in the moment will be feeling free and peaceful, and at the end of the day, that’s all that matters.

SInce its opening in 2020 (again, the timing being lousy, since they were almost immediately sidelined by COVID) it’s been an uphill struggle to get the word out that it is (and has been) open for business.

“Of course, we want all of our events to be well-attended. But it can take a good year for anyone to really start coming. It can be discouraging — especially for people who are working here. We put in a lot of time and energy planning events; we’re very hopeful that we’ll have a decent turnout, and then one person attends,” says community engagement coordinator Shivi Datta.

But Datta and Cropper both understand that there’s an evil elephant looming right in front of the Red House door: stigma.

Datta continues, “I mean, for example, I’ve been doing outreach for the past few weeks or so — going to all the merchants on either Circuit Ave. in Oak Bluffs or Main Street in Vineyard Haven, and I would walk in, talk up donations and what we have going on at the Red House, and about 95 percent of the folks in the stores had no idea we even existed.”

On the heels of that, Cropper chimed in, “When I first got sober in 1990, I remember the first meeting I went to, which was the Thursday night AA meeting in the Campground. I think for like, three weeks, I drove around the Tabernacle trying to decide if I was actually going to go in. And when I finally did go in, friendly and happy people I recognized from working at the Black Dog greeted me with extreme warmth and acceptance. It was like, What was I embarrassed about? What was I afraid of?”

So, they get it. Everyone associated with the Red House gets it. Your journey with addiction and/or mental health struggles is understood and welcomed into the fold over there at 12 Beach Road in Oak Bluffs.

Finally, Cropper reminds everyone, “The opposite of addiction is connection. It’s when you can truly connect with other people who have had the same experience that you’ve had, who have had the same struggles that you’ve had. It just makes life much easier.”

If you’re struggling, or someone you know and care about is, stop by the Red House. Or visit the website at redhouserecovery.org, or call 508-693-2900. Please be sure to check out the content-filled calendar of events.