June 6, 2024
BY JOHN BAILEY
For Renee Neal, becoming the Catawba Alliance for Recovery’s new coordinator is all about following her passion for helping others.
Catawba Alliance for Recovery (CAR) announced hiring Neal during the agency’s recent June meeting. The Catawba County United Way has been a partner of CAR since its beginning and is the fiscal sponsor for the organization.
The Alliance was started in 2019 as a way for the community and service providers to come together in the county to provide better and more consistent services for those in recovery or in need of recovery.
The group is focused on encouraging self-advocacy for individuals, families and support systems through their unique journey and reducing stigma about substance use and brain health issues, according to the organization’s website.
Neal, who was retired, has been involved with CAR since its inception and more recently was the group’s treasurer.
“I have three passions, recovery, mental health and homelessness,” Neal said. “In my former career, I worked with individuals who were in that realm of need, and I became very passionate about trying to help them find recovery, find peace, find a better life.”
She is already looking at ways CAR can expand its reach in the future and bring in some additional funding to help with more community engagement and awareness events.
“There is a lot of stigma associated with addiction, mental health and homelessness, and it’s hard to overcome these issues because of that stigma,” Neal said.
The group is currently planning a recovery simulation in September.
This will allow participants to experience what it’s like to be in recovery, working their way through a full month (compressed into four hours) of the barriers, the stressors and the complications of being in recovery.
Neal said the event speaks to another one of CAR’s purposes, helping the community become more aware of what recovery is and how they can be more engaged in helping others through recovery.
CAR meets the first Thursday each month, 8:30 a.m. at the Catawba County United Way office in Hickory.