Find your path to recovery – forum on Thursday to include, providers, clients

LACONIA — Every person in recovery from substance use has their own story to tell, and found their own path to wellness. Many of those stories were told in a series published in April, and on Thursday night, some of those same voices – and people representing the agencies that assisted them along the way – will be part of a forum at Lakes Region Community College.

"Community Conversations: Paths to Recovery," will be held at 5:30 p.m. in LRCC’s Academic Commons space. The forum is open to the public, and particularly encouraged to attend are people in recovery, considering recovery options or hoping to help someone access recovery.

Larissa Baía, president of LRCC, will moderate the forum.

The forum will begin with presentations by providers who offer some of the different options for recovery: Corey Gately, director of substance use services at LRGHealthcare; Dr. Margaret Bahder, psychiatrist and owner of Bahder Behavioral Services; Daisy Pierce, executive director of Navigating Recovery of the Lakes Region, and; Mike Metz, program director of the Riverbank House.

The forum will also include first-person accounts from a panel of people in recovery. Daily Sun reporter Rick Green will lead the panel discussion. Following that, the floor will be opened for questions from the audience.

Adam Hirshan, publisher of the Laconia Daily Sun, said the forum reflects the paper’s growing interest in “solutions journalism,” a philosophy that news organizations should focus not just on society’s problems, but also on how they might be solved.

“I felt that the paper should play a role in addressing the opioid crisis... I feel that the paper needs to, in addition to our coverage, we need to play a role in leading, in bringing people together to discuss important issues,” Hirshan said.

“I feel the paper’s role goes beyond news reporting.” Hirshan said he reached out to Baía, and found that the LRCC president had already planned to open her school’s facilities for discussions of major local issues.

“One of our strategic goals is to build awareness of the college and its services and programs among the communities we serve,” Baía said. “Part of that is making people aware of what we do and fostering broader conversations of interest about things that matter in our community and finding creative and productive solutions.”

Gately, who administers substance use services for LRGHealthcare, said she hopes the forum will attract people who are ready to begin recovery from addiction.

“The forum will address several paths to recovery and the participants who are in recovery will be talking about some of the unique things that have helped them along the way,” Gately said. She added that attendees might learn about some of the new options offered locally. “There are many things that have changed in the past few years in regards to services that are offered, services that are covered by insurance, and there are also many changes in the ways that we can help people get connected to services.”