Great Barrington — Several local organizations will present a free screening of the documentary “Recovery City” at The Triplex on Wednesday, April 9, at 5 p.m.
Railroad Street Youth Project, the South Berkshire Community Health Coalition, and the South County Rural Recovery Center are co-sponsors of the event.
The documentary, released last year, is about four Worcester women dealing with addiction and how it impacts their lives.
“We chose to screen this documentary because it allows audiences to hear about addiction and recovery from multiple perspectives,” Railroad Street Youth Project Youth Outreach Advocate Elliot Seward told The Berkshire Edge. “The four women have different experiences in their journey through recovery. Seeing multiple perspectives about this is very valuable for people to understand that recovery can apply to anybody. It doesn’t matter what your background is and what your life looks like now because recovery is possible for everybody.”
“The documentary humanizes the experience of living with addiction,” said Director of South Berkshire Community Health Coalition Laura Rodriguez. “I hope that it will also decrease the stigma attached to addiction and recovery. I think people still struggle with this stigma, even if there has been a shift in people’s attitudes in the public health realm. However, we can always do more to destigmatize both addiction and recovery.”
Seward explained that conversations about addiction and recovery, including the conversation at the April 9 event, can help in defeating long-held stigmas. “We want to highlight the hope and resilience of the recovery community,” Seward said. “As much as some people have a welcoming and positive feeling towards people in recovery, there is also a lot of that negative perception and shame that comes from the stigma.”
“To a certain extent, there is an othering of people who are living and dealing with addiction,” Rodriguez said. “I feel that people in our community would benefit from reconciling their feelings over their experiences with substances over the years. It is a shame that people carry the choices we made when we were young, like in our partying days. I think the more we encourage parents and adults to confront their own experiences and be OK with that, I think the better they are at communicating with the young people in their lives about how to approach informed decision-making when they are confronted with decisions about whether or not to try a substance.”
Seward agreed with Rodriguez that communication with young people about substances, addiction, and recovery is critical. “Adults need to show that these are all not topics that we shy away from,” Seward said. “These are things that we need to talk about. All of these are things that we try not to hold judgment around. We need to be real about all of these topics.”
Seward emphasized that it is healthy to be cautious about substance use and its negative consequences, but he thinks “fear has been the main theme in the narrative around addiction and substance use for a long time, and it’s just another barrier to people seeking help.”
“There’s so much negativity and fear in this conversation around addiction that can decrease a young person’s self-worth,” Seward said. “I think it’s important to go with the facts and try to have a nice, balanced understanding of everything.”
After the documentary, the Railroad Street Youth Project will present the results of this year’s Prevention Needs Assessment Study. The study presents yearly analytical data on young people in South County and their substance-use choices.
While the report had not been completed at press time, Rodriguez said that preliminary data suggests “young people are doing pretty well.”
“The data shows that cannabis use is kind of stabilizing,” Rodriguez said. “However, alcohol use seems to be at the forefront. That’s the substance of choice for the youth of South County. I’m concerned about young people not feeling rewarded by their community for their accomplishments. Young people in South County don’t feel valued, and that’s a concern.”
Click here for more information about the event.
Click here for more information about the Railroad Street Youth Project.
