The Vermont Association for Mental Health and Addiction Recovery

09/14/2026

We tell people that recovery is possible, and we mean it. However, sometimes we wonder if we're willing to ask the harder question: possible under what conditions?

It's hard to build a new life when you're worried about where you're going to sleep tonight. It's hard to focus on healing when you're choosing between groceries and a prescription. It's hard to imagine a future when every system you encounter reminds you of your past.

Recovery asks something of a person. It also asks something of the world around them.

It asks whether there is a place to belong. Whether there are people who will stay. Whether work can be a source of dignity instead of another source of fear. Whether healthcare is accessible. Whether your mistakes are allowed to be part of your story without becoming the whole story.

We cannot keep celebrating recovery while ignoring the conditions that make it possible.

Recovery is personal. Recovery is also communal.

This Recovery Month, we're celebrating the courage it takes to change, and asking ourselves what we can change around people so that they have a real chance to do it.

09/10/2026

Today is World Su***de Prevention Day.

Vermont knows how to take care of its own. We plow each other's driveways. We stack wood together. We notice when the lights haven't been on. We show up with soup and don't ask questions. However, somewhere along the way, a lot of us learned that su***de was the one thing we weren't supposed to say out loud. So we got quiet about the very thing that most needed a voice. That silence was never protecting anyone. It just made pain feel like something to hide instead of something to bring to another person.

Asking someone "are you thinking about su***de?" doesn't put the idea in their head. It tells them you noticed. It gives them somewhere to set it down, even just for a minute, instead of carrying it alone. You don't need the perfect words. You just need to stay in the conversation once you've started it.

And if it's you who's struggling right now, you don't have to have it figured out before you reach out. Vermont's crisis line is real people, not a recording: call or text 988, any hour, any day. Mobile Crisis teams across all ten counties can come to you, wherever you are in the state.

You are allowed to need help. You are allowed to be the one who's struggling this year instead of the one who's holding it together for everyone else.

We firmly believe that everyone deserves someone who notices, a state that shows up for its people, and a future that still feels possible on the hardest days.

09/09/2026

VAMHAR, represented by our director Daniel Franklin, was honored to attend the grand opening of the Asha Clinic - Vermont’s first outpatient clinic dedicated specifically to specialized, evidence-based su***de care - on September 4.

Vermont has gained an invaluable resource and we can't think of a better way to honor Su***de Prevention Awareness Month.

Thank you to the many people and organizations who made this day possible, including UVM Health - UVM Medical Center, Four Pines Fund, Drs. Stephen Leffler and Robert Althoff, and Dr. Craig Bryan and the remarkable team who came to Vermont to be a part of our community.

We stand with you as community partners and as peers both in this work and who have lost loved ones to su***de and preventable outcomes.

Learn more about the Asha Clinic and its mission to expand evidence-based care:

A couple of Vermont physicians funded the clinic after losing their son to su***de in 2015.

09/07/2026

No one should have to choose between keeping their job and being honest about what they're going through. VAMHAR's Recovery Friendly Workplace initiative helps Vermont employers build cultures where people don't have to hide.

Learn more at vamhar.org/rfw

09/06/2026

People in recovery aren't a liability on a job application. They’re some of the most resilient, dependable employees a business will ever hire. Recovery Friendly Workplaces across Vermont are proving that every day.

Learn more at vamhar.org/rfw

09/05/2026

Recovery doesn't move in a straight line, and it was never supposed to. A return to use isn't proof that someone failed, it's information on the way to what actually works for them.

Let’s meet people where they are, as many times as it takes.

09/04/2026

To commemorate International Overdose Awareness Day on August 31 and the beginning of National Recovery Month and Su***de Prevention Awareness Month, our Executive Director Daniel Franklin spent August 31 to September 3 in Washington DC advocating for Vermont's mental health and addiction recovery communities. He was honored to attend the National Recovery Friendly Workplace Institute's 2026 conference, representing Vermont as both Vermont's certifying body and as a nationally certified recovery friendly workplace in its own right.

Thank you to Global Recovery Initiatives Foundation and the National Recovery Friendly Workplace Institute for convening employers, employees, state leaders, federal partners, advocates, and people with lived experience to learn more about advancing the movement together.

It is a privilege to work alongside so many inspiring leaders across the country!

To learn how to become a Vermont certified RFW and how your workplaces and employees can benefit please visit: vamhar.org/rfw

09/04/2026

Substance use disorder is a medical condition, not a character flaw. It responds to care, consistency, and time, the same way any chronic health condition does.

At VAMHAR we believe in accessible treatment, not judgment.

09/03/2026

Housing isn't a reward for recovery. It's the foundation it's built on.

When someone doesn't have a stable place to live, everything else gets harder to hold onto: treatment, work, relationships, follow-through.

VAMHAR advocates for housing-first policy because healing needs a floor to stand on.

09/02/2026

We heard this powerful reminder at Burlington’s International Overdose Awareness Day gathering, and we’re still thinking about it.

Harm reduction is often misunderstood.
It is sometimes treated as controversial, optional, or somehow separate from public safety.
It isn’t.

Harm reduction is public safety.

Naloxone keeps people alive.
Drug checking helps people make safer decisions.
Syringe services prevent disease and create connections to care.
Overdose prevention education gives people the tools to respond when seconds matter.
Meeting people where they are creates opportunities for people to connect with treatment, recovery and other supports.

Perhaps most importantly, harm reduction recognizes a simple truth:
People cannot recover if they aren't here.

We heard from people with lived and living experience, family members, advocates, providers and elected leaders. We heard about loss. We heard about survival. We heard about what works.

And we were reminded that the overdose crisis isn't solved by choosing between harm reduction, treatment, recovery or prevention.

We need all of them.

We need to keep people alive.
We need to reduce harm.
We need to make treatment accessible.
We need to support recovery.
We need to build communities where people can find connection and support before they reach a crisis.

Thank you, Sarah, for putting it so clearly. (Sarah for States Attorney)

Thank you to everyone who continues to show up, speak out, share lived experience and fight for a Vermont where every person is treated with dignity.

Harm reduction is public safety.
Harm reduction is compassion.
Harm reduction is prevention.
Harm reduction saves lives.