The Vermont Association for Mental Health and Addiction Recovery

The Vermont Association for Mental Health and Addiction Recovery We celebrate substance use disorder recovery through trainings, advocacy and leadership programs.

Today, we remember. We remember the people behind every number.The parents.The children.The siblings.The partners.The fr...
08/31/2026

Today, we remember. We remember the people behind every number.

The parents.
The children.
The siblings.
The partners.
The friends.
The neighbors.

The people whose lives were cut short. The people who are still here.

We know the numbers matter as they help us understand the scope of the overdose crisis and where our systems are failing, but numbers can never tell the whole story.

Every overdose death is a person who mattered.
A life with relationships, dreams, struggles, laughter, love and possibility.

AND, every person who survives an overdose deserves more than survival. They deserve the opportunity to find support, connection, safety and a pathway forward.

That means we need more than awareness.
We need prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery support, housing, connection, compassion and policies that make it easier - not harder - for people to stay alive and build lives they want to live.

We need to keep challenging the stigma that tells people they are somehow less deserving of care because they use drugs.

We need to remember that recovery doesn't follow one path.

Today, we honor those we have lost.
We stand with those who are still here.
We recommit ourselves to building communities where people can find help without judgment, where people are valued before they are in crisis, and where every life is treated as worthy of saving.

No single organization can create the conditions for recovery alone.No single person can either.All of us have a role.Em...
08/30/2026

No single organization can create the conditions for recovery alone.
No single person can either.
All of us have a role.

Employers: Ask whether your workplace makes it possible for people to navigate difficult seasons without having to choose between their livelihood and their wellbeing.

Community organizations: Ask what happens when someone arrives at your door hungry, unhoused, without transportation, or without the resources to access care. Who can you connect them to?

Policymakers: Look beyond individual programs. Ask what happens when people lose access to the foundations that make stability possible.

Neighbors and community members: Pay attention. Learn. Listen. Share resources. Challenge stigma. Remember that needing help is not a failure.

And for all of us: Ask a bigger question.

Not only:
"What does this person need to do?"

Also:
"What do we need to build around people so they have a real opportunity to heal?"

That is the work of building an ecosystem of care.

Not one program.
Not one provider.
Not one intervention.

A community where the pieces actually connect.

That is what we mean when we say: Recovery Belongs Here.

REFLECTION INVITATION: What is one thing you can do — in your workplace, community, organization, or neighborhood — to make stability and recovery more possible for someone else?

We often talk about recovery as though it is simply a matter of determination.As though if someone wants it badly enough...
08/28/2026

We often talk about recovery as though it is simply a matter of determination.
As though if someone wants it badly enough, they can overcome whatever is in front of them.

What happens when the barriers aren't simply internal?

What happens when someone is trying to recover while:
→ worrying about eviction
→ choosing between groceries and gas
→ trying to get to work without reliable transportation
→ caring for a child without enough support
→ navigating an overwhelming healthcare system
→ working in a place where asking for help doesn't feel safe

At some point, we have to ask ourselves:
Are we really giving people the conditions they need to succeed?

We cannot tell people that recovery is possible while simultaneously pulling away the foundations that make recovery possible.

This isn't about lowering expectations.
It's about recognizing reality.

People deserve safety, dignity, connection, and a genuine opportunity to build a life they value.

Meeting basic needs isn't charity.
It is justice.

At VAMHAR, that's part of what we mean when we say Recovery Belongs Here.

It belongs in our workplaces, our communities, our schools, our healthcare systems, our policies, and in the everyday places where people are simply trying to build a life.

REFLECTION INVITATION: What would it look like if we built communities around that belief?

What does housing policy have to do with recovery?What does food policy have to do with mental health?What does transpor...
08/27/2026

What does housing policy have to do with recovery?
What does food policy have to do with mental health?
What does transportation policy have to do with someone's ability to stay connected to care?

More than we sometimes want to admit.

Policy shapes whether people can access the basic building blocks of stability.

And when those building blocks become harder to access, the consequences don't stay neatly inside one system.

They ripple outward.
Into families.
Into workplaces.
Into healthcare systems.
Into communities.
Into people's ability to heal.

This doesn't mean every policy conversation needs to become a conversation about substance use or mental health.

It means we need to stop pretending these things are unrelated.

Food policy is recovery policy.
Housing policy is recovery policy.
Transportation policy is recovery policy.
Healthcare policy is recovery policy.
Workplace policy is recovery policy.

When we make it easier for people to stay housed, fed, connected, employed, and supported, we create more capacity for people to build lives they value.

That is systems change.
AND recovery work.

REFLECTION INVITATION: What policy area do you think has the biggest impact on people's ability to achieve stability?

We often organize people's lives into categories.Housing.Food.Transportation.Healthcare.Employment.Mental health.Substan...
08/26/2026

We often organize people's lives into categories.

Housing.
Food.
Transportation.
Healthcare.
Employment.
Mental health.
Substance use.

People don't experience their lives in separate categories.

A missed bus can mean a missed appointment.
A missed appointment can mean an interruption in care.
An unexpected medical bill can mean falling behind on rent.
Losing food assistance can mean choosing between groceries and gas.
Housing instability can make it harder to sleep, work, parent, connect, or maintain recovery.

Everything is connected because people are connected.

This is why conversations about recovery have to be bigger than what happens in a treatment room. If we want people to have a genuine opportunity to heal, we have to look at the whole environment surrounding them.

Not just:
"What does this person need to do differently?"

But also:
"What does this person need around them?"

When we strengthen the foundations of people's lives, we strengthen the possibility of recovery, too.

REFLECTION INVITATION: What connection between systems do you think we overlook most often?

We talk a lot about recovery.About treatment.About peer support.About medication.About therapy.About connection and comm...
08/25/2026

We talk a lot about recovery.

About treatment.
About peer support.
About medication.
About therapy.
About connection and community.

All of those things matter.
AND recovery doesn’t happen in a vacuum.

It is hard to focus on healing when you don't know where you'll sleep tonight.

It is hard to make an appointment when you don't have transportation to get there.

It is hard to stay connected to work when you are choosing between a paycheck and caring for your child.

It is hard to maintain recovery when you're constantly calculating whether there will be enough food, whether the heat will stay on, or whether you can afford the next unexpected bill.

These aren't distractions from recovery.
They are the conditions that make recovery possible.

At VAMHAR, we believe we have to ask a bigger question:
What does someone need around them to make recovery possible?

That question takes us beyond individual programs and toward the systems, policies, workplaces, communities, and relationships that shape people's lives.

Because recovery belongs here.
And so does stability.

REFLECTION INVITATION: What is one thing you believe communities need to do better to create the conditions where people can heal?

08/24/2026

Thank you to Red Hen Baking Co. for supporting VAMHAR this month!!!

Go get yourself a treat and show your community love ❤️

We are feeling especially grateful this month because VAMHAR is the recipient of the Red Hen Baking Co. community tip ja...
08/24/2026

We are feeling especially grateful this month because VAMHAR is the recipient of the Red Hen Baking Co. community tip jar!
Red Hen has made an intentional choice not to use a traditional tipping model. Instead, they build fair and predictable compensation into their wages, and give customers the opportunity to direct what they might otherwise leave as a tip toward a community organization they believe in. We are so honored that The Vermont Association for Mental Health and Addiction Recovery was chosen this month.

We can’t think of a more beautiful way to support community, because we believe recovery happens in community. It happens when people have connection, compassion, stability, opportunity, and a place where they belong. Our work is about helping build those conditions across Vermont through education, advocacy, connection, and changing the systems that shape how people experience mental health, substance use, and recovery.

So if you're heading to Red Hen this month, grab a loaf of bread, a pastry, a coffee, a creemee, or whatever makes your day a little sweeter, and consider directing that tip toward VAMHAR. Every contribution helps us keep building a Vermont where recovery is possible, support is accessible, and everyone has the opportunity to belong.

📍 Red Hen Baking Co. — 60 Main Street, Montpelier

Thank you, Red Hen, for believing in community and for choosing to share that generosity with us. We are deeply grateful. ❤️

And thank YOU for stopping by, enjoying something delicious, and helping support the work of VAMHAR while you're there.

Learn more about Red Hen's approach to tipping and community giving: https://redhenbaking.com/blogs/news/we-need-to-talk-about-tipping

A decline in overdose deaths is something to celebrate, but it is not a reason to stop! Vermont's overdose deaths have d...
08/20/2026

A decline in overdose deaths is something to celebrate, but it is not a reason to stop!

Vermont's overdose deaths have declined significantly in recent years, including a 25% decrease in all-drug overdose deaths in 2025.

We are grateful for every life represented in that decline.
AND we also know what a statistic cannot tell us.

There are still families grieving.
There are still people using drugs alone because they are afraid to ask for help.
There are still people navigating poverty, housing instability, trauma, stigma, and systems that don't always meet them where they are.
There are still people who need treatment, harm reduction, connection, recovery support, and someone willing to see them as a whole human being.

Progress should give us energy, not permission to walk away.

International Overdose Awareness Day (8/31) asks us to remember those we have lost while recommitting ourselves to the people who are still here.

We can hold grief and hope at the same time.
We can celebrate progress and acknowledge the work that remains.

And we can keep asking:
What would it take to make sure even more people get to stay?

As we approach International Overdose Awareness Day on August 31, we're holding two truths at the same time.Vermont is s...
08/19/2026

As we approach International Overdose Awareness Day on August 31, we're holding two truths at the same time.

Vermont is seeing a meaningful decline in overdose deaths. In 2025, overdose deaths fell by 25% compared with 2024, continuing a downward trend.

We should celebrate that.
We should study it.
We should ask what is working, and invest more deeply in the things that are saving lives.

AND we should never look at a declining number and decide that the crisis is over, because one death is not a statistic to the people who loved that person.

Data helps us see patterns.
It helps us measure progress.
It helps us identify gaps and make better decisions.

However, data cannot tell us what it feels like to lose your child.
It cannot measure the empty chair at the kitchen table.
It cannot capture the person who survived an overdose and found another day.
It cannot quantify the dignity of being met with compassion instead of stigma.

That's why International Overdose Awareness Day matters.
We remember the people behind the numbers.
We honor the lives lost.
We recognize the progress.

And then we ask the most important question:
What do we need to do next to save more lives... because our goal isn't a better statistic. Our goal is more people here to love, laugh, recover, grow, and live.

Address

1 Blanchard Court, Suite 204
Montpelier, VT
05602

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Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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