I have been in recovery from substance use for what feels like a lifetime, served my country in the U.S. Air Force, and have since retired to serving my recovery community. One of the most important activities that recovery communities engage in are recovery support meetings, in all their different forms. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many of our meeting spaces closed down, and our connection to each other with it.

Recovery communities are resilient, so we responded by hosting outdoor and online meetings. But it has not been the same. Many of our community members have died this year to accidental overdose and others, some of our longest-standing members, have started drinking or using drugs again. I am positive that many of these instances could have been avoided if our meeting spaces had been available.

That is why I support my state Sen. Chloe Maxmin’s bill L.D. 488 to open seven new recovery community centers, one in every Maine county that doesn’t have one — including Kennebec County. Among some of the things that a recovery community center does is host meeting spaces for the recovery community. Our recovery community in Kennebec County is a family and a recovery community center is our home. We desperately need that space to come home to when the days of the pandemic are over.

 

Ron McGerigle Jr.

Jefferson