National Recovery Month: Joy’s path to recovery and helping others

TILTON — As transportation manager for the Greater Tilton Area Family Resource Center, Joy Moody is often providing rides for people in the community, but that is far from all she does. Joy has also been working at the shelter in Laconia, she’s a certified recovery support worker and facilitator for certification trainings. Joy is also an acupuncture detoxification specialist, and a seminary student who fills in for local pastors when they are away.

“I joke I’m a jack of all trades and a master of none,” said Joy, who lives in Campton.

When Joy began volunteering her time, she was at a very different place in life. “If you had told me six years ago I would be in recovery, running the transportation program, facilitating classes, and my debt is clear, I would have said, what drugs are you on and can I have some,” said Joy. “I never expected to live this long and have a life like no other.”

Six years ago, Joy was going through a divorce, drinking heavily and using cocaine. Joy knew she needed to do something different from the path she was on, so she began volunteering at the Northfield Tilton Congregational Church food pantry, where she met Rev. Michelle Lennon, who now also serves as the executive director at GTA-FRC.

Lennon invited Joy to volunteer at the church office as well and made her promise to come every Thursday and Sunday. “That accountability kept me coming,” said Joy.

In 2014, Joy was out of work, but had some time of abstinence under her belt. Ultimately it was her faith in God that helped her continue abstinence and get into a recovery program. Through a counselor, she was referred to Horizons Counseling Center in Gilford.

“It took me years to find out recovery was the better choice,” said Joy.

As Joy was beginning her recovery journey, the GTA-FRC was getting off the ground. Local churches and others in the community came together to support the creation of the center and find ways to better provide better access to resources for area individuals and families, especially those seeking or working to sustain recovery.

“When the idea of a resource center came to life, Michelle invited me to those community meetings while it was still just a plan on paper, I was able to be there from the early planning,” said Joy. Her time volunteering led to more responsibility and eventually a paying job. “My recovery story has grown with the resource center.”

Joy said she was able to take classes and get the certifications needed through trainings hosted by New Futures and Harbor Care. Harbor Care offered training for people seeking their CRSW certification, and resource center management. She said the classes at Harbor Care helped her not only learn for herself, but also how to pass knowledge onto others. It also showed her that not all paths toward recovery are the same, something she inherently knew through the experience of her own journey.

“My pathway doesn’t look like most,” she said. “I had done a 12-step program in the past and had bounced in and out of the halls since 1999 with not much success. When I was looking to get sober, we talked about all the options and for me the option was a spiritual deliverance.”

The support of the recovery community and her church community have helped her when she’s experienced bumps in the road. When Joy lost someone close to her from overdose, her friends in these communities were there for her.

“They wrapped themselves around me supported me,” she said. “I’m really grateful for the people we work with. Without them coming up and supporting me, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

For more information, visit nhrecoveryhub.org and harborcarenh.org/peer-recovery-support-services.