Barnes’s Story
Barnes (B.K.) Saunders
My experience and journey in recovery can be summed up in one simple sentence: The opposite of my active addiction is connection, the relationships that I have in my life today with other like-minded recovering addicts and the advice, suggestions, and mentorships that I have been blessed with today carry me forward through all aspects of my life.
Going to treatment and living in a recovery house are both big parts of my story and I’m not sure where I’d be today if those resources weren’t available to me and if I didn’t have individuals who supported and encouraged me along the way. While living in a recovery house I was working full time, and had gone back to school to finish my Bachelor’s Degree in Public Policy. I would see fellow addicts come in and out repeating the unfortunate cycle of treatment, getting clean and moving into a recovery house, but then not having the life skills to further advance and improve and grow, and fall back to what they knew best and old habits, eventually leading them right back to active addiction.
Seeing first hand the need for transitional support services, how to set up bank accounts (checking and savings), how to set up an email account and create accounts on job application and professional networking sites (linkedin, indeed, etc.), how to navigate the complex legal and social systems (getting a driver’s license, getting a new social security card if it had been lost, getting health insurance set up, etc.), learning how to set and balance a budget, learning how to invest and contribute to a 401k, learning how to build credit, and learning how to apply for higher education, colleges, trade schools, universities, and grants and scholarships, learning how to get a GED. I witnessed first hand the need for support in all of these areas for newly recovering addicts who had just gotten off the streets, gotten out of jail or gotten out of treatment. Thus I knew when it came time and I was in the position to start an organization dedicated to providing comprehensive support to recovering addicts, going above and beyond helping them and not focused on only getting them clean and sober, but helping to support and encourage them for all that life has to offer beyond that first step towards a new life, the Sunday Recovery Network was founded to provide just this.
