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The Vermont Association for Mental Health and Addiction Recovery

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Montpelier, VT
The Vermont Association for Mental Health and Addiction Recovery

We celebrate substance use disorder recovery through trainings, advocacy and leadership programs.

04/09/2026

Here’s something we don’t say often enough:

Systems can unintentionally recreate the very outcomes they are trying to prevent.

When people leave incarceration without stable housing, employment, or care:

Instability increases.
Opportunity narrows.
And the path back to the system becomes more likely.

Research shows incarceration itself can sometimes increase the likelihood of reoffending due to disrupted social ties and reduced employment opportunities.

Not because people don’t want to move forward.

But because the conditions for success aren’t fully in place.

👉 Where do you see this cycle showing up?

04/08/2026

For many people, incarceration does not address the root causes of behavior.

◾ Addiction.
◾ Mental health.
◾ Trauma.
◾ Economic instability.

Instead, it often disrupts the very things that support stability:

◾ Connection to family.
◾ Employment.
◾ Access to care.

And when those supports are weakened, the likelihood of reoffending doesn’t decrease, it often increases.

We’re responding to symptoms.
But not investing enough in what actually leads to long-term change.

👉 What would it look like to respond differently?

04/07/2026

In Vermont, it can cost well over $100,000 per year to incarcerate one person.
That places us among the highest in the nation. Yet, many people leave incarceration without the support needed to stay stable.

So the question isn’t just what we’re spending.
It’s what we’re investing in.
Because if the outcome is continued instability, disconnection, and return to the system, we have to ask:

👉 Are we funding solutions ... or cycles?

04/06/2026

April is Alcohol Awareness Month and we invite you to go deeper than awareness. Let’s challenge what we’ve been taught.

💬 What if we replaced judgment with curiosity?
💬 What if support didn’t require someone to be at their worst?

This month - and every month - let’s build systems that meet people where they are at (and let us not leave them there).

04/03/2026

Connection can be healing ... if it feels safe.

Our new 30-minute course (at no cost), Empathetic Pathways: Communication Skills for Trauma Survivors, offers simple, practical tools to help you show up with care, respect, and understanding.

You’ll explore:
✨ listening with empathy
✨ using needs-based language
✨ avoiding judgment and stigma
✨ making clear, supportive requests

Plus, we’ll reflect on this powerful truth from Brené Brown:
"If we can share our story with someone who responds with empathy and understanding, shame can't survive."

Whether you’re a provider, peer, or community member, this course is for anyone who wants to communicate in ways that support healing.

🕒 Just 30 minutes. Real-life impact.
🔗 https://vamhar.learnupon.com/

04/02/2026

Too often, a criminal record becomes a permanent barrier. Not because of current risk, but because of how our systems are designed.

Applications are filtered.
Opportunities disappear.
Potential is overlooked.

And over time, that exclusion compounds.

Gaps in employment grow.
Confidence erodes.
Connection to community weakens.

And when people are locked out of opportunity, the outcome is not surprising:

Instability increases.
Disconnection deepens.
And the conditions that lead to reoffending are reinforced.

Not because people don’t want to move forward, but because the path forward isn’t fully open.

We can design systems differently.
👉 Where do you see these barriers showing up, and what would it take to remove them?

04/01/2026

We often call it “second chance hiring.” However, for many people, it’s not a second chance - it’s a third, a tenth, or a twentieth.

Not because people aren’t trying.

But because recovery, stability, and opportunity are shaped by systems that don’t always meet people where they are.

Housing isn’t stable.
Treatment isn’t consistent.
Employment isn’t accessible.

And then we ask why people struggle to move forward.

Recovery is not linear. And neither is the path back to stability.

What matters is not how many chances someone has had. It’s whether we are willing to offer a real opportunity now. One that is supported, sustainable, and rooted in dignity.

👉 What would it look like to build systems that make success possible, not just expected?

03/31/2026

We often talk about prevention as something that happens before a problem begins. However, there is another form of prevention we don’t talk about enough:

Opportunity.

When someone has access to meaningful work, stable income, and a sense of purpose, the likelihood of returning to instability decreases.

Employment is not just an economic issue.
It is a public health strategy.
It is a recovery support.
It is prevention.

👉 What would change if we treated opportunity as prevention? Share your thoughts in the comments.

03/27/2026

At VAMHAR, we believe in staying grounded in both:

Hope and urgency
Progress and accountability
Compassion and action

Because this work asks that of us.

We can celebrate the lives being saved, the shifts we’re seeing, and the ways communities are showing up for each other.

And at the same time, we hold the weight of what’s still not working—
the gaps, the losses, the people still being left behind.

This isn’t contradiction.
It’s what it means to care deeply and stay committed.
Real change doesn’t come from choosing one or the other.
It comes from holding both—with honesty, with humility, and with each other.

💬 What does it look like for you to hold both?

03/26/2026

We have been reflecting on something we like to call "The Quiet Work".

Not all life-saving work is visible.
It doesn’t always make headlines.
It doesn’t always show up in reports.

Sometimes it looks like:
• Sitting with someone who’s not ready for change
• Offering care without conditions
• Handing someone supplies without asking questions
• Checking in - again and again
• Remembering someone’s name, their story, their humanity

This is the quiet work. And it matters more than most people realize.

Because before systems change—
before policies shift—
before outcomes improve—
People have to feel seen.

At the Vermont Association for Mental Health and Addiction Recovery, we believe this kind of care is not “extra.” It’s foundational.

It keeps people alive.
It builds trust.
It makes everything else possible.

03/25/2026

Lately, we’ve been holding two truths at once:

There is still so much loss.
And… there are also signs of change.

Across the country—and here in our communities—people are working every day to keep each other alive. And that work is making a difference.

But the most meaningful shifts don’t always show up in data.

They look like:
• Someone carrying naloxone and knowing how to use it
• A moment of compassion instead of judgment
• A program that meets people where they are
• A door opening to treatment, support, or connection
• Neighbors, peers, and providers showing up again and again

These moments matter.
They ripple outward.
They save lives.

At VAMHAR, we know that real change doesn’t just come from systems—it comes from people, from community, from care.

💬 So we want to ask you:
What’s giving you hope right now?

What changes - big or small - are you seeing in your community?

Your voice helps shape what comes next.
Your experience matters more than you know.

👇 Share in the comments or send us a message. We’re listening.

03/24/2026

We’ve been sitting with this question for a while now:
What’s giving you hope right now?

After years of loss, we’re starting to see signs of progress in the overdose crisis. And behind that progress are real people, real moments, and real shifts happening in communities like yours.

Maybe it’s:
• Someone carrying naloxone for the first time
• A conversation that felt more open, less judged
• A new program or space where people feel safe
• Someone you love getting the support they need
• Or simply people showing up for each other in quiet, powerful ways

These moments matter. They’re often unseen, but they are changing lives in profound ways.

At VAMHAR, we believe community voice is essential. Not just in shaping programs, but in shaping what hope looks like, what’s working, and where we go next.

💬 What changes have you seen in your community that give you hope?
We’d truly love to hear your story.
👇 Share in the comments or send us a message.

Address

1 Blanchard Court, Suite 204
Montpelier, VT
05602

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm

Website

https://www.vamhar.org/, https://recoveryvermont.learnupon.com/

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