BestSelf Recovery Community

Join us next week for FREE HAIRCUTS, brought to you by Haircuts For Those In Need. Make sure to get here early and put your name on the list!💇💫

Congratulations, Mona! We are so proud of you!

Happy Juneteenth and Happy Pride! Come on down for our festivities this month!🥳🌼

Congratulations to one of our hardworking volunteers, TJ... He earned Volunteer of the Month for May! TJ always goes above and beyond, and tells his jokes with a smile. Thank you, TJ!

Enjoying the baseball game tonight... THANK YOU to the Buffalo Bisons for sponsoring our tickets! ⚾️🙏✨️

Want to give your input on what we can do to improve the Center? Everyone is welcome to join us for our monthly advisory board meeting... plus we have snacks and refreshments!

We're so proud to see Roseanne be celebrated as a Woman in Recovery! She is one of our participants, soon-to-be volunteer, and we see her make an impact on others in recovery every day!

Acacia Network and our upstate affiliate, Hispanos Unidos de Buffalo (HUB), celebrate women in recovery! 💜

Roseanne Lockard’s path to recovery began nearly a decade ago following a long struggle with opioid addiction that started with a skiing accident. Her journey of managing chronic pain is a challenge shared by approximately 20.7 million women and girls in the U.S. who met criteria for a substance use disorder in 2023 (SAMHSA).

For Roseanne, the road to healing was paved with loss and housing instability. Ten years ago, grieving her mother and living in a motel with her service dog, Colton, Roseanne sought help at Promesa Alba de Vida, the outpatient behavioral health and substance use services located at HUB. There, she found a comprehensive methadone treatment program that addressed both her substance use disorder and the chronic physical pain from her injuries.

“I was just lost,” Roseanne recalls. “But once I met Ann [a Peer Advocate], she connected me with the SPOA program, and I was placed in an apartment with my dog.”

Roseanne credits her clinical team for her success: “Every counselor has helped me figure out what I can do instead of thinking about those cravings.” She also attributes her stability to Colton. “He is trained to deal with my emotions. I tell anyone in recovery: if you have the opportunity to work with an animal, do it. It gives you another life to care for besides your own.”

Now a decade into her journey, Roseanne is preparing to become a Peer Advocate herself. “One day Ann said, ‘I think you would be a great Peer Advocate,’ and it made me realize I am stronger than I thought. I’ve finished my trainings and am completing my volunteer hours. Hopefully, by this time next year, I’ll be working part-time as a Peer.”

For other women exploring treatment, Roseanne’s advice is simple: “You have to do it for yourself, not for anybody else. Women are stronger than we are usually given credit for. I don’t hide the fact that I am in recovery—I am proud of it!”

Today, Roseanne looks forward to a healthy life and simply "being happy.”
🔗 Visit acacianetwork.org to learn more.

🌷In this month's warm weather, we hope you'll stop by the Recovery Community Center for our groups and activities!💐✨