RU Recovery Program offers encouragement and support
BY JAON JANZEN
joanjanzen@yahoo.com
Everyone has experienced challenges during the last six months, but Scott Holloway from the RU Recovery Program - Kindersley Chapter has seen first hand the impact the shut down had in the community. RU Recovery is an addiction support program that has operated since October, 2018.
“There’s been a lot of challenges with everything that’s happened. A big one has been the anxiety, being out of work and financially stressed. There’s definitely frustration where there’s not any end in sight, and some want to give up on things,” Scott said.
“From my perspective, the last few months have taken a toll on people’s mental health. We’ve taken all these steps to preserve our physical health, but how it’s affected our mental health has not been given a voice.” Scott said.
Scott ran the RU Recovery Program online during that time, partly on Zoom and facebook live. “We recognized that it wasn’t an option to stop, and this worked well. Since June, we’ve been running the program in person as well as online.” The group meets at 419 - 5th Avenue West. “We’ve had some guys from out of town whose support group shut down, so they’ve become part of the program, and they’re fairly regular online. It’s sort of expanding a bit beyond what we expected. We certainly welcome people who want to find out about our program,” Scott noted. “Definitely the in person interaction can’t be replaced. Being able to come together makes a difference for our guys.”
Scott emphasizes the need to be proactive, encouraging people to find ways to stay connected, and finding ways to keep active and doing something productive. He also said it can be an opportunity to take advantage of extra time to deal with things, like being aware of your thoughts. “You can get in a bad place with your thoughts of fear and hopelessness,” Scott said. And that’s why the RU Recovery program is here to offer help.
Scott advised people to fill their minds with things that are positive, try learning new hobbies, go fishing, or maybe take a course online. “If you’re feeling lonely, then you know you need to find ways to reach out. When we’re struggling, we tend to withdraw, but we need to find ways to push ourselves the other way,” he said. “You want to come out of this a better person.”
How can this be made possible? Well, Scott suggests taking time to cheer up someone else who is struggling. “Thinking about what you can’t do puts you in a discouraging place, but thinking about what you can do is encouraging. I think a big part in the whole thing is we don’t have to sort it out all alone; God is with us and will help us. With Him we can have hope; we don’t have to be afraid,” Scott concluded.
