I applied for Mobilize Recovery 2023 because I'm an advocate and person with lived experience in recovery that has a seat on the ISUDCC. It's a federal advisory committee that provides guidance to SAMHSA. But this is a rare seat to have. Therefore, sharing a variety of stories from my community, while also understanding policy, identifying barriers, and fighting stigma to actually help improve the lives of people who use drugs, and all the folks in recovery is VERY important to me. Attending Mobilize in person this year will help me help others via my seat on the committee, in addition to other recovery & community efforts.

I was very grateful to be selected! Only a couple hundred advocates from the country are chosen, and more apply every year. The event is free, but the discounted room rate is $299/night. Mobilize starts Sun Sept 17th at 11:30am and ends late Tues Sept 19th at 12am-ish. Unfortunately the cost to cover 3 nights of lodging & airfare is more than I bring in a month (yep, you read that right lol). I had to RSVP within a few days and after searching for cheaper rooms and carefully weighing my decision, I reserved a room where the event is held before they sold out and I was out of options.

So... if you'd like to support my efforts to help the addiction and recovery community or if I've helped you with something and you're able to help me, I will be extremely grateful!

Since becoming sober in '06 and finally having a stable life since '15, I've learned to value transparency & accountability. So all donations will be transferred & held in a seperate account to be used only for the trip to DC.

My goal of $1300 helps cover 3 nights at The Mayflower Hotel ($1040.07 total) airfare (up to $250), and any transportation costs to and from the Ronald Reagan Airport in DC & the hotel.

Learn more about Mobilize Recovery here

And here

Thank you!! -Amanda S.