We are collaborating with stakeholders on a seminar series about topics related to recovery community centers and the use of medication to treat opioid use disorder. and the distribution of tools, products, and research materials that will support the building of a cumulative RCC science.
Please see the list below for an overview of the seminars. Click on the title of the seminar to open a PDF document containing more information about the seminar.
- Title: New studies on RCCs: Introducing our newly funded pilot study projects
- Information TBA!

- Title: Outcome presentation for pilot project #5: Examining Sexual Minority Engagement in Recovery Community Centers
- Presenter: Dr. Abigail Batchelder (Massachusetts General Hospital)
- Discussants: Dr. Lara Weinstein (Thomas Jefferson University)
- RCC Live Feature: Ty Bechel, MNM, CPRS, Executive Director & Business Development of Amare NFP
- Date: Friday, November 3, 2023, at 12:00 PM ET
- Recording
- Slides
- Additional Materials:
- Title: Outcome presentation for pilot project #4: A Socio-Ecological Examination of the Use of Recovery Community Centers by Persons Taking Medications for Opioid Use Disorder
- Presenter: Roxanne Newman (Brown University School of Public Health)
- Discussants: Cathy Shultz (Rhode Island’s governor’s overdose taskforce), Dr. Amanda Von Horn (Tufts Medical Center & Tufts University School of Medicine), Dr. Felecia Pullen (Pillars – Holistic Recovery Support)
- RCC Live Feature: Felecia Pullen, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of Pillars – Holistic Recovery Support
- Date: Friday, October 6, 2023, at 12:00 PM ET
- Recording
- Slides
- Title: Community engaged research – what is it, why do we need it, and how can we do more of it in the recovery community center (RCC) space?
- Presenters: Dr. Devin Banks (University of Missouri-St. Louis), Dr. Ashli Sheidow (Oregon Social Learning Center), and Dr. Chyrell Bellamy and Rev. Robyn Anderson (Yale School of Medicine), Dr. Terrence S. McTier Jr. (HEAL Initiative)
- RCC Live Feature: Elizabeth Burke Beaty, CPRS, CPLC (she/her/hers), Founding Executive Director and CEO of www.SeaChangeRCO.org (NJ) & the National Sea Change Coalition
- Date: Friday, June 2, 2023, at 12:00 PM ET
- Recording
- Slides
- Additional Materials:
- Online micro-training in community-engaged research
- A paper describing different ways of community engagement in research, and highlighting key issues regarding equity (e.g., ownership, decision-making, resource-sharing) and contextual factors (e.g., trust, transparency, relationship building):
- Key, K. D., Furr-Holden, D., Lewis, E. Y., Cunningham, R., Zimmerman, M. A., Johnson-Lawrence, V., & Selig, S. (2019). The continuum of community engagement in research: A roadmap for understanding and assessing progress. Progress in community health partnerships: research, education, and action, 13(4), 427-434.
- Concrete examples of the work of community advisory boards (as implemented by the JEAP Initiative):
- Concrete example of a community-academia partnership, the Imani Breakthrough Project:
- Description of the project in an academic, peer-reviewed paper:
- Bellamy, C. D., Costa, M., Wyatt, J., Mathis, M., Sloan, A., Budge, M., … & Jordan, A. (2021). A collaborative culturally-centered and community-driven faith-based opioid recovery initiative: the Imani Breakthrough project. Social Work in Mental Health, 19(6), 558-567.
- Description of the project as featured online by the Policy Research Associates
- Title: Outcome presentation for pilot project #3: Understanding how recovery community centers impact members’ wellbeing: A pilot study using daily diary assessments
- Presenter: Dr. H. Harrington “Bo” Cleveland (The Pennsylvania State University)
- Discussants: Drs. Stephanie Wemm (Yale Stress Center) and Jon Soske (Rhode Island Communities for Addiction Recovery Efforts)
- RCC Live Feature: Javier H Alegre, BScB, CPSS, Executive Director of Latino Behavioral Health Services
- Date: Friday, May 5, 2023, at 12:00 PM ET
- Recording
- Slides
- Title: Outcome presentation for pilot project #2: Feedback on a mobile application intervention to support pregnant and postpartum women and people (PPWP) in recovery
- Presenters: Drs. Hannah S. Szlyk and Patricia Cavazos-Rehg (Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis)
- Discussants: Dr. Davida Schiff (Massachusetts General Hospital), Dr. Roger Vilardaga (Duke University), Pastor Marsha Hourd (Director of CAFE & LIFE Recovery Center) and Ty Bechel (Executive director of Amare Recovery)
- RCC Live Feature: Chris Rosewarne-Sudduth, BA, CPRC, Program Manager and Recovery Coach at Washtenaw Recovery Advocacy Project (WRAP)
- Date: Friday, April 7, 2023, at 12:00 PM ET
- Recording
- Slides
- Information about the mobile application and intervention:
- Title: The role a state’s department of public health can play in the creation and thriving of RCCs
- Presenter: Ms. Danielle O’Brien of the Bureau of Substance Addiction Services, Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH)
- Discussant: Jesse Crum, Recovery Services Specialist at the Missouri Department of Public Health
- RCC Live Feature: Angela Burton of the Detroit Recovery Project
- Date: Friday, March 3rd, 2023, at 12:00 PM EST
- Recording
- Slides
- Title: Outcome presentation for pilot project #1: Cost-effectiveness calculators for RCCs: A pilot of peer recovery support services and bystander Naloxone distribution
- Presenters: Ms. Sierra Castedo de Martell, Ms. Margaret B. Moore, and Dr. H. Shelton Brown
- Discussants: Ms. Patty McCarthy and Mr. Phil Rutherford, Faces & Voices of Recovery
- RCC Live Feature: Ms. Anita Bradley, CEO and Founder of the Northern Ohio Recovery Association
- Date: Friday, February 3, 2023, at 12:00 PM ET
- Recording
- Slides
- Additional Materials:
- Title: Delving deeper into nationwide findings on Recovery Community Centers (RCCs): Medications, connections with services, and agents of social change
- Presenters: Drs. Bettina B. Hoeppner and John F. Kelly
- RCC Live Feature: RCC Co-Founder Dr. Alex Elswick of Voices of Hope – Lexington, Inc.
- Date: Friday, December 2nd, 2022, at 12:00 PM ET
- Recording
- Slides
- Additional Materials:

- Title: Results of our nationwide survey of RCCs (Part 2): Feedback from RCC leadership about potential outcome measures that could be used to capture the positive impact of RCCs
- Presenters: Drs. Bettina B. Hoeppner and John F. Kelly
- RCC Live Feature: RCC Program Director, Cory O’Brien of Turning Point Recovery Support Center
- Date: Friday, October 7th, 2022, at 12:00 PM ET
- Recording
- Slides
- Title: Results of our nationwide survey of RCCs (Part 1): Description of currently operating RCCs, their services, and the communities they serve
- Presenters: Drs. Bettina B. Hoeppner and John F. Kelly
- RCC Live Feature: RCO director Samantha Brawley and Drop-in Center Coordinator Mark Palinski of Sunrise Community for Recovery and Wellness
- Date: Friday, September 9th, 2022, at 12:00 PM ET
- Recording
- Slides
- Title: Self-care, wellness, and recovery in the RCC setting: Approaches taken and complexities faced
- Presenters: Dr. Mary-Ellen Brown (Arizona State University) and Catherine Lovvorn (director of Living Proof Recovery) and Dorothy West (director of Center of Recovery Resources and Wellness Resources)
- RCC Live Feature: RCC director Catherine Lovvorn of Living Proof Recovery
- Date: Friday, May 6th, 2022, at 12:00 PM ET
- Recording
- Slides
- Title: New studies on RCCs: An overview of the new studies funded by our network
- Presenters: The awardees of the first round of funding (Abigail Batchelder; Bo Cleveland and Kyler Knapp; Marc Johnigan, Mark Thomas, Sheila Speckter, and Mark McGuire; Roxxanne Newman and Alexandra Collins; H. Shelton Brown and Sierra Castedo de Martell)
- Date: Friday, December 3rd, 2021, 12:00 PM ET
- Recording
- Additional Recording:
- Slides
PDF documents containing more information about each seminar:
Seminar 10 Details and Materials
Seminar 9 Details and Materials
Seminar 8 Details and Materials
Seminar 7 Details and Materials
Seminar 6 Details and Materials
Seminar 5 Details and Materials
Seminar 4 Details and Materials
Seminar 3 Details and Materials
Seminar 2 Details and Materials
Seminar 1 Details and Materials