Walk for Recovery

THURSDAY, Sept. 4 – Theresa Clemons has struggled with a lifetime of addiction to cocaine, heroin and alcohol.

She’s been sober and clean for 15 months, has her own home and has repaired relationships with her daughters.

But the 39-year-old Lansing accountant doesn’t feel free to shout this success from the mountaintops because of the stigma associated with addiction.

“During an interview when having to explain a lapse in employment, I will explain I needed to take time for my health,” she said. “If I chose to tell them the health reason – addiction – I am completely shut down. Now, if I would have taken time for treatment of cancer or a blood disease, there would not be any disgusted looks.”

Lansing’s first Walk for Recovery Sept. 13 is being held with a goal of erasing the stigma and raising awareness for those struggling with addiction.

“I no longer want to have to hide,” Clemons said. “I have an addiction, but I am recovered. I am a strong asset to any company.”

The event will begin at 12:30 p.m. at the Brenke Fish Ladder in Old Town. The walk will begin at 1 p.m. ending with a rally and speakers at the Capitol steps. At 3 p.m. there will be a memorial and candle-lighting ceremony to honor those who have lost their lives due to addiction.”

About 1.4 million adults received treatment for an alcohol use disorder at a specialized facility in 2012, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

The walk is the brainchild of Kathy Reddington, a board member of the National Council on Alcoholism (Lansing regional area).

She said the idea was born after a woman she sponsors lost her daughter to addiction.

“We need to recognize the people in our community who we’ve lost,” Reddington, of Haslett said. “We all know somebody who is either addicted to something or who has lost someone.”

Reddington is celebrating 24 years in recovery from alcoholism

The kickoff speaker is Corey Warren, founder and president of WAI-IAM.

Warren, 24, grew up in Okemos and went to high school in Mason where his drug use began. He describes a “decade of misery” for his mother as she watched him progress to shooting heroin by the time he was in his junior year of high school, eventually ending up in jail with a possible 10-year sentence staring him in the face. He got a lesser charge, served jail time, cleaned up and went to college but he said he partied and drank heavily.

“Drinking was socially acceptable,” he said. “I felt I could fit in. I could lose myself and fit in all at the same time.”

After his last rehab, Warren and his mother, Jacque Liebner, founded WAI-IAM (Who am I? I am me) with a mission to empower youth and inspire individuals suffering from substance abuse.

The group has also opened several transitional houses for those in recovery.

He feels the Walk for Recovery is a big step toward making recovery visible and erasing the stigma of addiction.

“We want recovery to be trending,” he said. “We want the recovery lifestyle to be the lifestyle of choice.”

Reddington said she hopes the first walk draws 500 people.

“There is a huge recovery community here in Lansing, we’re just hoping they all show up,” she said.

Changing how addiction is perceived will be an uphill battle, Warren said, but so is recovery.

“It’s not going to be an overnight ordeal,” he said. “With all of us reaching a couple hands out, before you know it we’ll have a wave of people going through Lansing fighting back against the stigma. I plan to stay dedicated to changing the stigma. It’s going to be hard work, but using drugs and alcohol was hard work too.”