Lived Experience

I got sober on September 29, 1991, through a treatment facility at Cedars-Sinai Hospital. At the third meeting they took me to there was a recovery group of Deaf people from a program at CLARE Foundation called Signs of Recovery (SOR). I have twins… a hearing boy and a deaf girl who were two and a half years old at that time. The people of SOR took me in and taught me about service at AA meetings by having me join their clean-up commitment at this particularly large meeting, knowing I was new to the world of the deaf and brand new to recovery. That was my first exposure to CLARE. I will forever carry gratitude for the organization and the Deaf people of Alcoholics Anonymous who were a part of it.

When I finished the inpatient treatment program, my union suggested I do 8 weeks at an outpatient program called Matrix. It turned out that this was a once-in-a-lifetime insurance benefit, and I felt it was worth sticking it out for my first year, rather than end the benefit. I became a support group co-leader and ended up volunteering at Matrix for the next ten years, trying to be an example of 12-Step programs and bring that to the social support groups I was a part of.

Through my friend Dorothy Richards I got involved in a major gifts committee of the CLARE board, on which I served for a number of years. I was asked to join the board shortly after CLARE and Matrix merged. It seemed so appropriate to me, having been engaged with both organizations and seeing how they counterpointed each other. I have now served on the board since 2018, through many changes and challenges, but knowing I get to carry a message of recovery and compassion to our participants for an organization that saves lives. It has been an honor.