ARC Addiction Recovery

Context / The Problem

According to Statistics Canada, approximately 21.6% of Canadians (around 7 million people) meet the criteria for a Substance Use Disorder (SUD) over their lifetime, with about 4.4% Canadians (around 1 million people) over any given year. Yet according to the data collected by the National Treatment Indicators (NTI) project, only 151,000 Canadians are accessing treatment services per year.

Why is this? Some of the main reasons point to:

• The lack of addiction treatment services available in Canada.
• The stigma of addiction preventing individuals from seeking help.
• Attitudes towards the effectiveness of treatment services for addiction issues.

That last point comes from the consideration that, depending on the source taken from, the relapse rate of individuals in recovery is said to be anywhere between 50-90%. Even at it's lowest point, that's a staggeringly high percentage. And while the causes of relapse can be attributed to a number of different factors, one of the main factors is this:

• Failing to continue self-care once official treatment has ended (i.e. After-Care).

And what's one of, if not the most important aspects of after-care treatment? A regular attendance to addiction recovery support groups.

The problem?

• There is a lack of support group options to choose from.

• There is a lack of progressive, evidence-based, empowering, nonjudgmental, and comprehensive support groups.

• There is a lack of support groups that encourage and provide opportunities for social connection outside of meetings.
  
  

Our Solution

Applied Recovery Connections (ARC) aims to fill some of these gaps and holes left by the current addiction treatment system, by providing another support group option to those struggling with substance use and/or addictive behaviours; one that provides evidence-based, empowering, nonjudgmental, and comprehensive peer-support meetings using the best and latest science and the most effective tools alongside a forward-thinking program, in order to meet the needs of a broader range of individuals struggling with addiction.

By offering an extensive and progressive support program based on cutting-edge research and a wide-range of proven methodologies, we are providing those in recovery with a more individualized experience and more options to choose from, in hopes of increasing their chances of success.

What sets ARC apart from other groups and helps us to achieve this?

1. Our meetings consist of a number of different formats. These include sharing & general discussion meetings, topic discussion meetings, meetings with educational presentations, tool-teaching meetings, meetings with documentaries, and meetings with guest speakers (such as counselors & therapists, doctors & pharmacists, researchers & scientists, social & community workers, individuals with long-term sobriety, and more).

2. Our program grows and changes with the latest discoveries in addiction. We keep up on the latest advancements in the field, using a wide variety of evidence-based techniques and tools from many different areas in the field of addiction and mental health. This includes methods taken from various forms of therapy (i.e. CBT, DBT, MI), those taken from the world’s leading experts on addiction and mental health, as well as those that are effective in other treatment programs.

3. We connect individuals in recovery by holding regular social outings with our group attendees, which involve a wide range of activities such as hiking, bowling, mini-putt, movies, BBQs, swimming, escape rooms, archery, laser tag, biking, and more!

4.We have a growing library of books for members to borrow from, written by many of the world’s top writers, researchers, and experts in addiction & mental health. We also have a growing online database containing the latest research articles and studies on addiction.

5. We regularly share the latest news, research, and events on addiction and mental health on our social media pages (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), keeping us and our members up-to-date with what’s currently happening in the field.

6. We help and encourage others to seek volunteer opportunities in the community, which not only aids with their recovery, but also helps to transform the stigma and the negative attitudes towards people with addiction.

And more!

For more information about our group, please visit https://arcrecovery.ca.

What We Need

Our long-term goal is to become an integral part of the science-based addiction and recovery peer-support community in Canada. To begin this process, we are asking for a total of $1000.

First, we are hoping to raise $500 to become a registered not-for-profit organization in Canada. Once we become registered, we will then be able to apply for further government funding, which will then help us to expand our group and truly get our organization off the ground.

Second, we are hoping to raise another $500 to cover the cost of a room rental for a year, so that we can continue to hold a weekly meeting at one of Canada's leading mental health and addiction facilities, The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre.

Lastly, any donations we receive that put us past our goal of $1000 will go towards more educational and promotional materials for our group. This includes things such as books for the ARC library, the latest research articles and studies on addiction, documentaries to show at our meetings, tools and workbooks for our group attendees, pamphlets and posters, website maintenance, etc.

Impact / Why You Should Donate

By donating to our cause, you would not only be helping our organization reach its goals, but, more importantly, you would be:

• Helping more individuals find a recovery path that is best suited to their needs, increasing their chances of success!
  
  
• Helping to move our current treatment system away from old ideologies and ineffective treatments, and towards a more inclusive, helpful, caring, empathic, and effective way of treating addiction!
  
  
• Helping to eradicate the stigma of addiction!
  
  
• Helping to reconnect families who have been torn apart by addiction!
  
  
• Saving lives!
  
  

Please donate today to help some of the thousands of Canadians afflicted with addiction! Any amount will be a huge help to us!