Engaging a Community in Recovery Episode Summary In this episode of Beyond Substance, hosts Dean Babcock and Jodi Miller explore how storytelling can help communities face substance use, recovery, stigma, and the impact addiction has on families, neighborhoods, and systems. Dean speaks with Lisa Dotson-Hall, creator of The Addict’s Wake, about how a documentary project that began in Brown County, Indiana became a tool for education, compassion, and community conversation. Jodi then shares the personal story of John Cunningham, whose recovery, public voice, and work through Recover Out Loud show how one person’s story can help others feel less alone. Together, these conversations show how recovery can move beyond the individual and become a source of connection for an entire community.

Professional Interview Summary
Dean’s conversation with Lisa Dotson-Hall centers on the creation and community impact of The Addict’s Wake. Lisa describes moving to Brown County, becoming involved with women in incarceration, and realizing how many people experiencing addiction had lives, families, dreams, and communities before substance use became part of their story. That experience led her to believe that film could humanize substance use disorder in a way that invited compassion rather than judgment.

Personal Story Summary
Jodi’s narrative segment follows John Cunningham, a person in long-term recovery whose story became part of The Addict’s Wake. John shares how he created Recover Out Loud while searching for community and how the documentary gave his recovery story a broader platform. His story moves through incarceration, limited access to formal recovery resources, the weight of a 30-year plea agreement, and the small but powerful hope that helped him begin to change.

Takeaways

• Storytelling can help communities talk about substance use disorder in ways that reduce shame and invite compassion.
• Community screenings, public conversations, and shared tools can help turn awareness into local action.
• Recovery is strengthened by connection, whether through formal support, recovery communities, family, work, or ordinary places where people feel known.
• One person’s willingness to share their story can give others the courage to reach out, speak honestly, or take the first step toward help.
• The impact of substance use extends beyond one person, and the impact of recovery can also spread through families, systems, and communities.

Podcast Information

• Hosted by Dean Babcock and Jodi Miller
• A Look at the Numbers segment hosted by Allie Martin
• Executive Producer: Shawn P Neal
• Mixed at Studio236 at Advocast

Episode Hashtags
#BeyondSubstance, #EngagingACommunityInRecovery, #RecoveryIsPossible, #RecoveryCommunity, #SubstanceUseDisorder, #AddictionRecovery, #TheAddictsWake, #BrownCountyIndiana, #RecoverOutLoud, #StigmaReduction, #CommunityRecovery, #LivedExperience, #RecoveryStories, #MentalHealthAwareness, #OpioidRecovery, #IndianaRecovery, #HopeInRecovery, #ShawnPNeal, #AdvoCast


Podcast Information:

• Hosted by: Dean Babcock & Jodi Miller
• Executive Producer: Shawn P Neal
• Audio Engineer: Shawn P Neal
• Mixed at: AdvoCast Leadership Advisory Studio236