1998
Like the recovering individuals who share their stories in this report--and help shatter the myths associated with alcohol and drug addiction--Recovery Resources wore many faces in 1998, from determination to deliberation to celebration.
With the help of our dedicated board members, staff, and volunteers, we expanded our services into Lorain County, gained the city of Cleveland and its 6,000 employees as an EAP client, and mobilized a group of young professionals--the Associate Board--to help accomplish the mission of Recovery Resources.
Armed with extensive research and the best thoughts of our board, staff, and outside experts, we also created a three-year strategic plan for Recovery Resources--a detailed road map designed to continue the long-term work of this agency. In it, we have pledged to maintain our leadership role in the treatment of alcohol and drug addiction and to continue to seek innovative ways to meet the special needs of those who suffer.
With a brand new building in the revitalized MidTown Cleveland, we are most proud of the new face we have put on our efforts in the community. Our new headquarters, christened in the spring of 1998, is a bold symbol of recovery and an important meeting place offering experience, strength, and hope.
At Recovery Resources, there are no faces more important than those of the individuals who have recovered from addiction. Those who Recovery Resources has helped find a better life. Those who face each day with a new hope, just as we do.
Achievements
Strategic Plan
The completion of a three-year strategic plan for Recovery Resources was a major achievement of 1998. The plan, a culmination of the work of the Executive Committee, officers of the organization, chairs of all committees of the board and the senior staff of the organization, was directed toward identifying new strategic initiatives to be accomplished from 1999 through the year 2001.
With the help of a $30,000 grant from the Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland, Recovery Resources commissioned a strategic environment assessment by Orion Consulting of Cleveland. The Orion study, which provided Recovery Resources with a market, internal, and environmental analysis, provided a basis for the agency's strategic plan.
Recovery Resources board member David Kantor, President of Kantor Consulting Group, guided the strategic planning process. Together, Mr. Kantor and the strategic planning committee refined our mission statement, created a new vision statement, and identified strategic objectives and initiatives to help carry Recovery Resources into the next century.
Initiatives
With a clearly defined market area of Northeast Ohio, we plan to increase both our client base and revenues by expanding regionally. Capitalizing on Recovery Resources' reputation as a model agency with highly regarded treatment services and a dedicated staff, we will strongly position the agency within our marketplace through various marketing activities.
To provide exceptional services in the ever-changing health care market, our strategic plan also calls for a focus on both human and technological resources. In 1999, we plan to further develop the infrastructure of Recovery Resources to support clinical services, research, and sound financial management by completing the agency's technology plan, the service delivery system.
The service delivery system represents a whole new way of doing business for Recovery Resources: upgrades to the management information system will dramatically improve our ability to provide seamless, client-focused, and cost-efficient services throughout our market area. More one-on-one time with Recovery Resources' counselors and a 50 percent increase in counselor productivity and are two more positive outcomes we expect from this initiative.
Maintaining an ethic of service excellence will remain critical to our efforts to attract and retain a quality workforce. In the coming years, we will put even greater emphasis on professional development to fortify our staff and uphold Recovery Resources' reputation for high quality treatment services. With the addition of a senior clinical officer in 1999, we look forward to enhancing our research capabilities and contributing to the body of knowledge surrounding alcoholism and drug addiction.
Because education is just as important outside the walls of our agency, we plan to increase our community awareness and advocacy efforts over the next three years. A major event planned for day two of the year 2000 in downtown Cleveland will help establish the Recovery Institute, a mobilizing force for members of the community who want to see alcohol and drug addiction placed higher on the community agenda. For his efforts guiding the development of the Recovery Institute, Recovery Resources honored Richard Jackson, Jr., Esq., Vice President and General Counsel, General Electric Lighting, as Volunteer of the Year in 1998.
Recovery Resources Building Dedication
Recovery Resources officially dedicated its new headquarters with a ceremony and open house on May 15. Among the more than 450 guests who helped Recovery Resources commemorate its new home were (former) Ohio Governor George Voinovich and his wife, Janet, and the Most Reverend Anthony Pilla, who offered the invocation and blessed the building.
Calling Recovery Resources and its new building a true anchor of recovery for the City of Cleveland, the governor praised MidTown as a revitalized hub of services. A ribbon-cutting ceremony, emceed by WMJI radio talent John Webster, was followed by entertainment and refreshments. Recovery Resources trustee William M. Hegarty, Jr., Managing Director, Gradison McDonald Asset Management, acknowledged the capital campaign donors who made relocation to the new building a reality.
With $2.5 million of the $3 million goal achieved, Recovery Resources' capital campaign was a huge success, not only in terms of dollars raised, but also for widening our circle of friends. Of the campaign's contributors, 50 percent were first-time donors to Recovery Resources.
Expansion of Services into Lorain County
Recovery Resources entered Lorain County in 1998, establishing important partnerships and offering three core recovery programs for the citizens of this community. Our presence in Lorain County marks a major step toward realizing the agency's goal of expanding beyond Greater Cleveland.
City of Cleveland Joins as EAP Client
Recovery Resources' Employee Assistance Program gained a major new client in 1998: the city of Cleveland and its 6,000 employees. The city was just one of 14 new EAP contracts established during the year, boosting the total number of insured lives from 12,000 to 18,000 and making Recovery Resources a major player in EAP services.
Associate Board
Completing its first full year of operation in 1998, the new Associate Board is a dynamic group of young professionals with a clear vision of its role in the success of Recovery Resources. With four established operating committees, the 60-member board staged its first successful fundraiser, a performance of the Christmas Carol and dessert at Cleveland's Playhouse Square. Armed with a deeper understanding of the organization's mission, goals, and services, the Associate Board also developed its own strategic plan, including major initiatives in the areas of community awareness and fundraising.
The Associate Board, working in conjunction with local organizations and community leader and radio personality Rena Blumberg, is developing a recovery rally planned for January 2, 1999 at Tower City. This day of renewal and rejoicing will become a legacy event aimed at raising community awareness for addiction and recovery.For his leadership in creating and chairing the Associate Board, Richard Comstock, Senior Vice President and Manager--Business Link, McDonald and Company Securities, Inc., received the Chairman's Award for Outstanding Contribution in 1998.
Associate Board Mission:
The Associate Board promotes the mission, goals and objectives of the Board of Trustees of Recovery Resources through vibrant, community-minded, young professionals and volunteers. The Associate Board seeks to embrace a comprehensive strategy of community outreach through awareness, education, social and fundraising activities, with a focus on young persons and peers that addresses issues associated with alcohol and drug addiction and related problems.
Future
Introspection is critical not only to personal growth but also to organizational success. Through this year's strategic planning process, we have identified our core competencies and analyzed our environment--in other words, we know who we are and where we want to go.
Our environmental assessment predicted an increased need for EAPs, programs to accommodate our growing elderly population, and services within the criminal justice system. With established and effective programs in each of these areas, we believe Recovery Resources is well-positioned to meet these growing community needs. And with a dedicated and talented team of employees, volunteers, and board members, we are confident in our ability to develop other innovative programs to assist in the ongoing battle to prevent and help individuals recover from alcohol and drug addiction.
We are especially excited about our plans for the new century, including the Recovery Rally, and our continued efforts to help "normalize" recovery through community awareness and advocacy. Putting a face to the recovering community will go a long way toward reducing the longstanding stigma associated with alcoholism and drug addiction--making the prevention and treatment of the disease that much easier.
