Date: Sepember 23, 2023
By Richard Damas
WORCESTER, MA – Everyday Miracles Peer and Recovery Center hosted a Walk For Recovery by Fuller Family Park in Worcester Saturday morning.
Recovery is real. These are the words Everyday Miracles Peer and Recovery Center member Dukroa Owens hopes will inspire people struggling with substance use disorder through the organizations recovery walk in downtown Worcester.
“I have 15 months in recovery, ” Owens said. “My two daughters Jarenne, 10, and Ajanne, 8, were removed by DCF 18 months ago. I have been fighting, doing everything that I can to advocate for myself and to stay active and committed to my recovery.”
The Center is a recovery facility in Worcester which works to provide peer to peer support with staff members and volunteers for those struggling with addiction.
Owens herself has not only been using the center in hopes to live a life of sobriety, but also as a staff member helping others in similar situations through different forms of outreach.
“The life changes coach Roberta Nelson,” Owens said. “She does the card of hope. Where we do that every two weeks we come out into the community and we give out whether it be food, we’ve done sandwiches, we do socks, whatever it may be. We make care packages for our community just to give hope that we’re still here.”
On Saturday, the organization along with several volunteers began the walk at Family Fuller Park and traveled through several nearby streets before ending the walk back at the park.
Both Owens and Program Director Michael Earielo say it’s important to be proactive in the community during National Recovery Month because there can be second chances for people who may be struggling with their mental health.
“We picked this particular spot because of the activity,” Earielo said. “The stigma that’s out here that people with substance use disorder are still out here so we’re out here to show them that recovery is possible and people do recover.”
“Honestly, it was great,” Owens said. “When they started passing the horn to the back because they were like ‘Give it to her she got it!’ You know. So it felt great and to say it and it felt so good for me and then to hear the community chanting it back and then people are walking, people are beeping, and I’m like holding up the sign like ‘Yes..!'”
Earielo says people who may be suffering with substance use disorder can seek help at the Everyday Miracles Peer and Recovery Center on Pleasant street.
