Become a Your Story Matters Campaign Spotlight

OASAS is in search of 12 individuals who would like to serve as Campaign Spotlights from September 2011 through August 2012. Campaign Spotlights must be willing to share their stories throughout the year in recovery-related press releases and at various OASAS events, recovery forums and Commissioner speaking engagements. If you or someone you know would like to become a 2011-2012 Your Story Matters Campaign Spotlight, please contact the OASAS Bureau of Communications at [email protected] by August 19, 2011.

Your Story could be another person's hope! Share Your Story. Inspire Hope. It Matters.

In January 2009, the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) launched the Your Story Matters campaign at www.iamrecovery.com to help raise awareness of the chronic disease of addiction; combat the stigma wrongly associated with substance use disorders and problem gambling addiction; and promote the message that prevention is proven, treatment works and recovery is real. Time and time again we hear only of the struggle of addiction, but the Your Story Matters campaign emphasizes the light at the end of the tunnel and offers insight into a battle worth the fight. It is dedicated to the individuals who are leading productive, healthy and fulfilling lives in recovery and the friends and families who have supported loved ones through their journey of recovery.

Your Story Matters offers hope to those still in the grips of alcoholism, chemical dependency or problem gambling. The individuals who choose to share their stories at www.iamrecovery.com represent the future and the reality of the state's Recovery Movement -- they are the hope, inspiration and proof that recovery is happening every day across the state and beyond.

Share Your Story.
Addiction impacts 2.5 million -- one in seven -- New Yorkers and their families, but there are tens of thousands of New Yorkers and their loved ones who are living stories of recovery from alcoholism, chemical dependency and problem gambling.

Inspire Hope.
We encourage you to join this growing Recovery Movement by sharing your story, anonymously if you wish. If you need help sharing your story, suggestions are available.

It Matters.
New Yorkers need to know there is hope and help for breaking the cycle of addiction. Lend your voice, share your story and become an inspiration for those in need of hope, so that they may be motivated by your success and begin their own journey of recovery.