The 2010 RecoveryNC Festival celebrated a lot of things on Saturday August 20th but the biggest celebration was for the 1012 years of Recovery that shared in the event.

Matt Boswell comes from a family of musical talent and began in his early years performing bluegrass and traditional country with his family. Matt has many influences that can be noticed in vocal and lead guitar work. Matt is also an amazing banjo, mandolin and bass player. Matt has traveled nationally with many bluegrass artists and regionally with his own energetic and diverse country act. Songwriting is a very large part of his musical abilities. His latest CD release, The Way I Am, is an all original example of his writing abilities. A combination of a strong work ethic and a true understanding of the roots of country music help Matt to produce a well rehearsed show that truly connects him to his audience. The Hillbilly Blues Band is a hand picked group of musicians with very diverse musical backgrounds that has been placed with Matt to produce a very original country sound. Some call it traditional country and some say it is more contemporary, but we feel it is somewhere in-between the two. In a very short period of time the group has become well known for there energetic and song packed performances. Matt Boswell and HBB hope that you enjoy listening to our music and be on the lookout for us to visit  your town!!! We ask that you as fans of music please get out and support all genres of music, especially your local musicians.

Matt Boswell and the Hillbilly Blues Band will be performing at 3:20PM.

Something Wicked will be performing on the main stage at 2:00PM

See Robin Rogers at 11AM and an encore performance at 4:30PM

Applying fresh ideas to his classical, pop and blues roots Derek Chase finds his groove in a brand new set of original songs.

He uncovers inspiration in the sounds of blues artists Robert Johnson and Willie Dixon; he nurtures his soul with the voices of the Jackson 5, Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye; and he loves the music of Nick Drake; he digs popular music from all music eras; and from them all, he learns & creates a mixture of blues, folk, pop and rock with a unique sound like no other.

Derek will take the main stage at 12:15PM

RecoveryNC will hold its first annual Festival on August 21, at the Greensboro Cultural Center and Festival Park in Downtown Greensboro. RecoveryNC invites those recovering or struggling with a drug and/or alcohol problem, and their friends and family to participate in this encouraging, inspirational and wonderful event. The free event will feature live music, information on getting help in recovering from drugs and/or alcohol and delicious food and drink for sale!

We have all been exposed to the negative effects of addiction in the media, on the streets of our home towns and through personal experience. However, it is much more difficult to see the success stories. Shame and stigma have had an extremely detrimental effect on people with addiction as well as those who have achieved stable long-term recovery. At RecoveryNC’s Festival 2010, the public will see those success stories that prove recovery is extremely realistic and can happen for anyone.

“This is precisely why we are holding Festival 2010. We want persons in recovery to be proud to celebrate their accomplishments. We want the local community to see the faces of recovery demonstrating their talents as musicians, vocalists, artisans, etc., in an open and accepting atmosphere of success over a disease that affects hundreds of thousands of families in our state,” said Donna Cotter, RecoveryNC Director.

Donations will be accepted at RecoveryNC Festival 2010. The public is encouraged to help those in need because every dollar dedicated to the treatment of persons with addictions is returned sevenfold to communities in the form of a reduction in criminal activity, highway injuries and death, healthcare and social welfare costs, etc.

Next thing I know, I was introduced to crack. I had actually been smoking crack for months before I even found out that I was smoking it. A guy I liked that I use to take home from work was actually lacing my weed with crack. I was already addicted to it, before I even knew what it was.  Soon me and a female friend of mine, found ourselves homeless and living on the streets.  I wasn’t welcomed at my house because of the addiction I had.  I would lie or steal to get what I needed.  Soon she and I started selling our bodies to get that high that we so desperately needed.  We were in and out of hotels
night and day with many different men whose names we didn’t even know.  We were slapped around a couple of times and got into a whole lot of dangerous situations that really could have gotten us killed.  I became sick of the lifestyle I was living.  I went back to my mother’s house and begged for her help.
Which she did help me, I pretty much locked myself in my room for a month straight to get off the stuff.

Well, I found myself another job, and then I noticed I was slowly starting to relapse. I was not as bad on it, but it was still a part of my life.  Well after 2 years of struggling with this, I became pregnant and quit doing it all together.  Soon after my son was born though, I found out about a new drug that I could do. I could use this drug anywhere I went.  I could be high off of it all day long and no one noticed.  This drug made me more alert and have lots of energy.  I thought I had found the solution to my problems.  I thought this was the perfect drug and the safest for me to do, boy was I wrong.  What was this new drug of choice you ask?  Well this was your everyday pain killer, Pills.  I thought they were the best thing in the world.

Well, once again after a couple of months of taking these pills, I lost another job.  They made me have very bad mood swings as well. But soon after I got another job that paid lots of money, waitressing at an extravagant restaurant.  But with the more money I made, the more pills I bought.  It didn’t help the fact that my boyfriend/father of my son was a pill popper as well.  So I was supporting both of our habits.  It was to the point where if I didn’t make at least $80 a day, we would come up short on something. The only other thing I spent my money on was gas, cigarettes, and supplies for my son.

I felt horrible though, where as that money should have been saved up for emergencies and toys and clothes for my son, it was all being blown everyday on pills.  So when my car blew up, I had no back up money to get it fixed. I was also showing the mood swings at this job.  I was able to control them a little easier, but not much.  My boyfriend had lost his job only 4 months after he had started working there, so it was all on me. We were living with his parents at the time, and they were always wondering where our money was going.  We’d always would lie to them about how much I really made at work to cover our butts on our addiction. Well soon after my car had blown up, I lost my job.  Oh no, now we were in some major trouble.  My boyfriend and I both knew that if we didn’t get our pills that some serious problems were soon to occur.

Well, they did. We started going through detox.  We were throwing up, had diarrhea, hot sweats, cold sweats and couldn’t get out of the bed.  Once again, I found myself selling my body for money to get me and my man pain pills. This time, it was to one certain guy.  My man knew about it. He’s actually the one that set it up most the time.  It was the addiction and the pain of withdrawals that made us do this.  Well, soon after all this was going on, I found out I was pregnant.  Now I’m worried to death, because I didn’t know if my child was his or my boyfriend’s.  On top of that I was still popping pills and pregnant.  If we couldn’t find pills that day, we would resort to smoking crack or doing cocaine. We left our son needing stuff.  We wouldn’t have any food at all in the house, but yet we would sell our food stamps just for pills so that we wouldn’t have to go through the pain of detoxing.

Well months went by with little money and hardly any food.  Then we got our income tax back and my boyfriend’s unemployment started coming. We ended up blowing $5000 on pain pills.  After they were all gone, we were using his unemployment.  He was getting $300 a week in unemployment, but yet the day after he got his check every week, we were right back broke and didn’t have enough pills to last all week, only enough to last about 3 days.  So for the other 4 days we felt horrible again.  Well, we decided that we had had enough and that we were going to move to my mother’s house to get away from the pills. Well, that worked, for a short period of time. See my mom is on pain pills as well.  She is prescribed them. We started stealing her pills from her.  When she caught on, she started hiding them. Well we were like bloodhounds when it came to pills.  We’d always find a way to find them.

We were also introduced to heroin here.  It cost $25 for a little bag of it.  I never got hooked to it, but I can see why people do.  We’d only do the heroin if we couldn’t get any pills. After one night of doing some, I broke down crying the whole night.  I was so ashamed of myself for putting my son through all that bs for nothing more than me and his daddy to get high.  Then not to mention the fact of what harm I could have caused to my unborn child.  So I searched and searched the internet for a solution to my problem.  I was so scared to tell a doctor about my addiction in fear of losing my kids.  I came across the website for Port Human Services and just started smiling when I read up on how methadone will help you get off the pills and block the opiates out of your brain so you won’t go through the withdrawals. This was it.  This was the solution to my problems.

I called as soon as the sun came up and the Port had opened.  They got me in right away. My counselor was/is a very nice guy.  He didn’t judge me, and he knew I needed help. I started dosing almost right away because I was pregnant, and they put me before most people. Well, since my first day of dosing, I can honestly say I have not touched another pill, heroin, crack, or cocaine. I just don’t want the stuff.  The only reason I did the other drugs besides the pills was to get through the pains of the detox. The methadone clinic saved my life, my boyfriend’s life, my son’s life and also my daughter who was unborn at the time. Which I’m glad to say that I had my daughter, and because I started taking the methadone when I was 4 to 5 months pregnant, I started at just the right time. She is 100% healthy and she is beautiful.  She is the drug dealer’s baby, but my boyfriend has adopted her.  We gave her his last name, and he’s the father on the birth certificate.  It doesn’t matter though.  She’s precious and the love of our lives.  Her and my son are my world. I was truly blessed.

After a month of my mother seeing the changes in me, I didn’t lie anymore, I didn’t steal from her anymore, and I had turned into an honest, decent person.  My mom decided that now I was responsible enough to have her double-wide.  So she moved in with her boyfriend, leaving my family and I with a fully furnished double-wide with a swimming pool in the back.  We use our food stamps now, and we don’t sell them anymore so now our home if full of food. We also got another car that runs great, and life is just so wonderful now. My boyfriend and I don’t fuss like we use to.  The pills made us treat each other horribly. The methadone clinic SAVED MY LIFE.  Without it, I probably would never gave birth to my daughter, all the drugs would have probably ended up killing her.  Without the methadone clinic, my son probably would have been taken away from me before too long.  And without the methadone clinic, I wouldn’t have my own house right now.

I just wanted to say without methadone, I don’t know where I would be today, and to tell you the truth of the matter, I don’t want to know.  I feel as if my life is perfect.  I have a wonderful family, and I don’t wake up in pain or craving pills, or as a matter of fact any drugs at all. So thanks to my methadone clinic, I wouldn’t have been able to do it without ya’ll!!!  To anyone out there with a pill or heroin addiction, please, I am begging you, get help, get help before it’s too late. I lucked up.  I’m lucky I didn’t catch a STD or AIDS, and I thank God everyday for that.  Sure my daughter’s father is a drug dealer, but that’s a small price to pay, for something a whole lot greater and far more worse could have happened.  My daughter could have been deformed, dead, or brain damaged.  I was blessed that none of this happened. Please, Get Help. Let me be the example for you. Don’t let it keep going thinking you can quit on your own because if you can that’s great, but most likely you will not be able to. This is a True story!!!

Tammi had hip surgery from a slide in softball and was given narcotics. Little did we know that this was the beginning of the end for Tammi. As I look back now, I can see where it all started, and she ended up in jail for 5 months before entering Recovery Ventures in Blk Mtn. She ended up with 42 felonies and has charges pending in S.C. She has been away from Carter since January 2009. This month, we get the opportunity to meet with her at Emerald Isle on September 20th 2009. They are there for a full week but Carter and other children, will be with the parent for 5 hours on the beach. This must be a celebration since I was informed via of a letter that Tammi had worked so hard, and they were taking a week to relax.

The devastation to Carter, myself, and an uncle of Tammi’s will be felt for a long time. The stealing of personal money and account numbers as well as selling valuable family silver, china, wedding rings and etc. must be processed by Tammi in the future. I don’t dare say a word in hopes that she will approach me on the matter. I bought her a house that was going into foreclosure within 30 days in order to keep Carter as stable as possible. All I want is for Tammi to regain what she lost, which was her PT license, friends, her son, and etc. Even out of recovery, she will face a multitude of problems she brought on with the addiction. This is one of the most severe cases her clinician has ever seen. She became a person I no longer knew or even wanted to be around. I know that I have to be strong for Tammi, myself and Carter in hopes of one day getting her back as she once was.