Jonda is a 复苏队 alumni who works full-time at Minnesota Recovery Connection (MRC). 她赢得了 Peer Recovery Support Specialist certification through her service, which has allowed her to step into her role at MRC. Jonda now works closely with justice-involved people in recovery, visiting local prisons 和 jails to support them in their recovery 和 help them transition to life after prison. 以下是我们与她的对话.
So how did you get start serving with 复苏队?
I got sober on January 31st, 2017, the day before my 40th birthday. A doctor told me about MRC after I had been sober for a little over a year. I started the Recovery Coach Academy at MRC in 2018, then I started full-time with 复苏队 that August, 它改变了我的生活.
What did you love about 复苏队? 它如何改变了你的生活?
首先是我得到的支持. 凯蒂·博德曼是我的基石. 凯蒂总是支持我. I can’t even say good enough things about what she has done for me in my life. 我希望我能坚持下去.
Justin McNeil also gave me that opportunity to grow. I met Justin through my training at MRC, 和 he became my Recovery Coach 和 is now my supervisor. He took the time to really get to know me. I knew I wanted to serve with 复苏队 because he had served, 和 he showed me so much.
There are a lot of things that you’re going to get wrong in the beginning. 每天都不一样. Just having the backup that I had 和 the love that I felt, I felt like somebody really cared. I grew so much being around other people who had the same passion for learning.
It seems like you really got to give other people that support when you were serving with 复苏队.
I see tons of people that come in 和 out of MRC that I’ve helped or I’ve worked with. I work with a guy now who I helped fill out the application for the Recovery Coach Academy. I remember the day he came in, 和 he’s been involved with MRC for four years now.
I helped organize a daily virtual recovery call when COVID-19 shut everybody down during my first year with 复苏队. To this day we still do that call. Many people were close to relapse, so just being able to talk to people, I know I helped them.
My sister watched me be a part of 复苏队, she just joined the program too. Now watching her do her thing is amazing. I’m praying she gets the same out of it that I did because it had such a huge impact on me.
What do you do now in your job with MRC?
I’m the lead justice-involved peer navigator, so I have so many roles. I run a pen pal program for people in jails 和 prisons that I did when I was in AmeriCorps. We do weekly discussion groups 和 programming in local prisons for justice-involved people in recovery. We’ve talked about gratitude, forgiveness, co-occurrence disorders, you name it. I also meet with people who are exiting prison to help them transition.
I was in prison a couple of times, so I talk with people a lot about my lived experience. I tell them how I was able to turn my life around. I tell them just because you have a record doesn’t mean anything. I make sure they know I don’t judge anybody. 我经历了很多. 我见过很多.
I’ve been a pen pal for a couple women at Shakopee who I’ve never met in person. I’m going to visit their bootcamp. They know a guest is coming, but they don’t know it’s me. I can’t wait to surprise them 和 meet them.
You had to take a test to get the Peer Recovery Support Specialist certification. 那是什么感觉??
我很害怕. I probably would not have passed that test if I had taken it before 复苏队. AmeriCorps helped set me up to pass. Once I passed that test, I was like, I’ve got this. I’m now forensic-endorsed 和 also a mental health coach.
Is there anything you’d say to someone considering serving with 复苏队?
It starts with AmeriCorps, 和 it really does. I can’t tell you how grateful I am. 我再说一遍, I would not be the Recovery Coach I am today without doing the two years I did in 复苏队.
Interested in serving with AmeriCorps? 看看 复苏队 和 我们的其他项目. 如果你有问题， reach out to our recruitment team!
