The Western Massachusetts Training Consortium

• Project Title: The RECOVER Project
• Program Representative Interviewed: Michael Lewis, Director
• Location: Franklin County, Massachusetts
• Program Overview: The Western Massachusetts Training Consortium is a learning organization that implements community-based approaches to improve the quality of life of persons with lived experience of being labeled by others, cognitive or physical limitations or disabilities, mental health diagnosis and/or extreme states, the impact of trauma or abuse, and drug and alcohol use disorders.
  
  The RECOVER Project is one of the Consortium's programs that uses the peer-to-peer participatory model to provide a safe space to community members in recovery from substance use disorders. The program aims to establish a sense of community among a group of peers who have had similar lived experiences. Based on the peer-created Code of Ethics, the RECOVER Project encourages an atmosphere of safety and respect that individuals often do not find elsewhere. The RECOVER Project provides resources and referrals to members in the recovery continuum of care including access to computers, assistance with obtaining medical insurance, and various in-house programs such as several twelve-step programs, the All Recovery Meeting, writing groups, yoga, and a Social Involvement Committee.

Models represented by this program:

• Peer Specialist Programs
• Mutual Support Groups and Self-Help Programs