NNews April 2024

30 April 2024 NJ-CARS NJAMHAANews: How long has each of you beenwithNJ-CARS andwhat is your role? MorganThompson,MSW, Chief ExecutiveOfficer of PreventionLinks andNJ-CARSAdvisoryBoardMember: I’ve been involved since NJ-CARS’ inception in 2018, was a co-chair of the advisory board and still serve on the advisory board and continue to advocate. Cindymarie Dix, Director of Recovery Community Development, Prevention Links and Chair, NJ-CARS: I’ve also been with NJ-CARS since its inception. I was one of the original advisory board members for one year. Then, I joined Prevention Links and became coordinator of NJ-CARS. I amnowone of the co-chairs. NJAMHAANews: Please clarify the relationship between Prevention Links andNJ-CARS. Morgan Thompson: Prevention Links applied for funding through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Building Communities through Recovery program and received funding in late 2017 to start NJ-CARS. Our goal is to create a platform and community of recovery support providers and other stakeholders to advocate for expansion of recovery support centers. We examined what works in New Jersey and replicate that with local adaptations to ensure access to locally responsive centers. Mike Santillo, who at the time was at Eva’s Village and later at John Brooks Recovery Center and is currently COO of Prevention Links, always worked on recovery support services and created a coalition years ago without funding. So, we partnered and conceptualized NJ-CARS. NJ-CARS is technically a programof Prevention Links, which serves as the fiscal intermediary. CindymarieDix: NJ-CARS has grown. We currently have approximately 1,000members, including individuals and organizations. Everythingwe do is for and bymembers. We host an Annual Recovery Ecosystems Conference; the next one will be in March 2025. We worked with Dr. Dietra Hawkins fromBoth/And Partners to provide training on diversity, equity and inclusion, and we hosted race equity dinners, where we highlight media, poetry, etc. and discuss race equity in community services. We help people apply for funding and incorporate cultural humility in their proposals. We also provide technical assistance for creating a trauma-informed ecosystem, which we did in several counties already. In addition, we run a seven-week Leadership Academy for peer support specialists and other people in recovery. “ We provide encouragement and support during the vulnerable period of discharge to the community and prevent the cycle of being in and out of treatment programs. ” Morgan Thompson, MSW Chief Executive Officer