December 2022 Newsletter
Hello Friends, Family, Community and Supporters of Sea Change!
Sadly, I actually do not know a single person who hasn't been impacted by the ongoing addiction crisis. That being said, we are fighting and working for significant change both locally and nationally. In 2022, we impacted over 6,000 lives (mothers, fathers, grandparents, sons, daughters, significant others, neighbors and care-givers). No one is immune to this crisis.
OUR YEAR-END APPEAL HAS A FEW DAYS LEFT. HELP US REACH OUR GOAL OF $5,000!
EVERY dollar counts and goes a LONG WAY. Donate now!
So many of you have already given and WE THANK YOU for helping us help others in direct and impactive ways through:
Family support
Group support
Individual support
Events and physical activities
Harm reduction services, and
Policy change toward health equity and patient-centered care (Did you hear that right before Christmas WE PASSED THE MAT ACT with our partners at New Jersey Organizing Project and the People's Action National Cohort in the year end omnibus bill which will remove unnecessary barriers to medication assisted treatment. THIS IS HUGE!
The CDC estimated there were about 107,600 overdose deaths for the 12-month period between July 2021 and June 2022. This is unacceptable, we see it first-hand and we are fighting for and making change!
With deep commitment to our innovative approach to recovery and to our future of normalizing harm reduction, we are, again, asking for your support as an essential and growing non-profit.
Continued Commitment to Core Grassroot Services
All we do every day comes down to the reality of the individual lives that Sea Change RCO touches. We see preciousness in each life and in the power of individuals to thrive and forge paths forward. We connect at an educated, human, heart-centered level, understanding the long individual path of recovery from substance use disorder.
What that looks like for Sea Change RCO:
Free support groups with seven each week, nearly every day of the year, averaging 15 attendees each, resulting in more than 6,000 touch points of support annually.
Free wellness programs with our community collaborators, like yoga, surfing, reiki, acupuncture and crossfit offered regularly, bringing various health modalities into recovery.
Free one-to-one support from Certified Peer Recovery Specialists to provide support and resources for those impacted by addiction, including family and loved ones.
Almost impossibly dedicated professionally trained volunteers leading these programs great care and compassion
Partnership with the New Jersey Organizing Project, in the creation of the Not One More NJ campaign, leading monthly community-based meetings to give folks in recovery the opportunity to take action for a more equitable recovery ecosystem in New Jersey. We are dedicated to taking action to end the overdose crisis and expand access to evidence-based treatments and harm reduction in NJ. Since launching our campaign we have passed 3 key pieces of legislation in NJ that expand access to lifesaving naloxone and medication assisted treatment (MAT).
A New Vision Becoming a Reality
This was the year where our vision for a movement of change coalesced. We believed that uniting grassroots recovery services with advocacy & organizing could save, heal, and empower lives. And it has. Now, our innovative model is being scaled to a national level. Our idea: to work at the intersection of boots-on-the-ground community-based recovery services (Sea Change Recovery Community RCO) and organizing people power for systemic change (New Jersey Organizing Project).
This collaboration has resulted in the launch of the National Sea Change Coalition, where we support other states in building out this model and uniting in power to end the devastating addiction crisis. As a coalition, we will support and respect body autonomy with compassion & dignity with the end-goal of normalizing harm reduction across the U.S.
We have moved from vision, to action with routine community meetings, new partners, funders, and advisers. In the weeks ahead we will bring on a growing team of student fellows to help with our ambitious efforts. Day to day this means creating systems, expanding our network, meeting with legislators, and making more connections nationally.
The National Sea Change Coalition will bring harm reduction to all who need and deserve this compassionate, life-saving care.
You Matter! We Matter! We write to you as friends, neighbors, and partners to help us continue to push all of this growth forward. As we sustain these parallel paths of recovery services and organizing for systemic change, YOUR DONATION MATTERS!
Please share our story, follow our work, and if you can, please contribute now or before December 31, 2022. Every dollar supports all of this work and the possibility of better lives free from the stigma of substance use disorder.
With deep gratitude and endless hope,
Elizabeth Burke Beaty, CPRS, CPLC (she/her/hers)
Founding Executive Director & CEO
"IT TAKES A VILLAGE"
Newsletter
September 2022
Hello Community, Friends and Members of Sea Change,
Our Recovery Community Organization has continued to grow at a swift pace! This is ongoing proof of our much needed services and our compassionate approach. In this newsletter, I have set links so that you can easily access more information on topics of interest to you. I hope you will take 3 minutes to read on (yep, I timed it)!
Our 2nd summer-long annual fundraiser, 100 Waves 4 Recovery, officially launched on June 1st and ran through Labor Day. TOGETHER, we raised $11,751 to provide free support to ANYONE struggling with substance use. That is HUGE and we are all incredibly grateful to our generous community of businesses and individuals. Those who donated $1000 and above include, Jetty Rock Foundation, Sea Haven Oystery, Walters Group, Causeway CARes and The Tide Table Group. This money will go a long way because we intentionally keep overhead low and outreach and support our top priority!
We have been consistently receiving press from The Sandpaper and are truly grateful to the staff and journalists. This press has aided in our ability to support our community. We've received ongoing calls, texts, and emails because of it and that has led to life-saving support to those crisis.
Community collaborations continue to expand including yoga with The Yoga Hive and Yoga Bohemia, reiki with The Reiki and Wellness Center, crossfit with CrossFit A-Game and our ongoing collaboration with The Phoenix - a national sober active community. In addition, we did a new short-term collaboration with The Maximilian Foundation to provide sober happy hours this summer with cultural experiences including a drum circle, mandala painting and crystal bowl healing. We also held a fun jam night and another mandala painting event with Hearts of Mercy. We truly love working with our community of friends and neighbors - their expertise and time lends to us being able to make recovery truly accessible.
Our visionary work of creating an intersection of community-based recovery services and advocacy/organizing for systems change has been awarded generous funding from the RxFoundation in the amount of $50k for the remainder of 2022. This award allows us to freely develop a working model for recovery, advocacy and organizing that does not currently exist. We are elated that others see our vision and appreciate our hard work! We also received 10k for 2022 from the New Jersey Resource Project for our contribution and partnership in the Not One More campaign (more details here).
We have a truly dedicated team of volunteers who provide unconditional support to anyone who reaches out. Our support groups online and in-person have expanded to 5 days a week as well as our capacity to provide one-to-one support from Certified Peer Recovery Specialists.
WED SEPTEMBER 14 - 5-7pm Networking Event with Southern Ocean County Chamber at The Mainland in Manahawkin
SAT SEPTEMBER 17 - 8am - 3pm / 2nd Annual Boomer Blast Surf Contest fundraiser on Long Beach Island, NJ
SUN SEPTEMBER 18 - 10-12 Mobilize Recovery a national event will make a stop in Robbinsville, NJ and we will be there to represent! Sea Change picnic afterwards.
TUES SEPTEMBER 20 - 9:30 - 10:30 AM / Yoga for Recovery at the Yoga Hive in Manahawkin
SAT SEPTEMBER 24 - 10:00am– 2:00pm Integrity House Graduation where we will go support one of our members who is graduating and starting school soon. We are so proud of him!
ALL of these events along with our weekly group schedule can be found on our website calendar.
Please share what we do with your friends and neighbors and if you can, PLEASE CONSIDER GIVING A TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TODAY!
We love what we do and feel beyond grateful to be able to be of service! To date, we've (conservatively) reached over 2,000 individuals and family members through our important work.
Thank YOU for being involved and I hope you will take pride in all this news. As I always say, “this is a WE organization” and WE are making a positive impact!
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