In early October, WestCare Nevada was able to join our community partners Shine a Light, CrossRoads of Southern Nevada, and the LGBTQIA+ Center of Nevada in hosting the first ever Recovery Village at Las Vegas Pride Festival. All too often, the LGBTQIA+ community is subjected to limited environments to socialize. The Recovery Village created a safe and supportive environment for individuals in recovery from alcohol and substances to enjoy the festivities and connect to local resources. The Recovery Village offered meetings throughout the day, access to recovery resources, and even had a sober bar offering handcrafted mocktails to enjoy while listening to live music.
The Pride Festival occurs yearly, reminding us of the thousands of LGBTQIA+ individuals who gathered during the Stonewall Uprising in a demonstration for equal rights. Foster Gunnison, an E.R.C.H.O member who witnessed the events of Stonewall, stated: “Individuals had new feelings of pride and self-confidence, for that was one of the main purposes of the event—to commemorate, to demonstrate, but also to raise the consciousness of participating individuals—to develop courage, and feelings of dignity and self-worth.” Today, over 50 years later, Pride still encourages individuals to be their true and authentic selves. Recovery Village celebrates this idea alongside uplifting the human spirit of those in recovery. Today, we take pride in who we are and celebrate that freely with others.
One of the transitional clients at our Women and Children’s Campus had the following to say about the event:
“Going to the Recovery Village was a new experience and very empowering. It was my first time sharing my experience and story in recovery in public. For the first time, I was able to enjoy the people and feel connection with perfect strangers, and I found that connection to be more enjoyable than all of the different events and shows that were going on around me. I really realized that recovery is where I want to be and helping others in recovery is what I want to do.”
Written by Brody Santini CADC-I, Clinical Manager, Harris Springs Ranch
Learn more about WestCare Nevada HERE.
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