Walk for Recovery

The 2nd Annual Walk for Recovery will be held on Saturday, September 17th, 2022 at 10am, at the new Pottawatomie County Museum- Paul & Ann Milburn Center just north of the old Santa Fe Depot. It will begin and end in front of the new Pott County Museum on 9th St. There will be resources available onsite along with live music, carriage rides, inflatables and food! Participating in the mile walk in honor or memory of a loved one is encouraged.

This walk is a free, family friendly event and registration is encouraged!  When registering, you can purchase a walk t-shirt for $10!  Register here or contact Abby Flood at aflood@gatewaytoprevention.org or 405-275-3391 for support. 

Gateway holds the walk in September to recognize National Recovery Month and support the positive message that behavioral health is essential to overall health, that prevention works, treatment is effective, and people can and do recover.  The day’s festivities will bring together friends and families, local organizations and businesses, and Gateway’s providers, patients, and volunteers to break down the stigma of addiction and bridge the gap to community.

Coming out of the Weeds

One day you find yourself far from the intended path

You’re in the weeds, so the saying goes

You’re messed up, banged up, broken, broke and bruised... inside and out

Life. Is. A. Mess.

A  moment comes, when you realize that change is needed

It hits when everything is feeling and failing, all at once

You’ve been on and off for so long, you don’t recognize its place...but you know

This feeling...  it’s different.... it’s a revelation of sorts

So you scoop up the last bit of the warrior you have left in you 

And exhausted, you go...

You take one small step in a seemingly promising direction, not even fully committed to the step

But, still, you go

You’re discombobulated to say the least, but still, you go

It feels hopeful and foreign and uncomfortable and inconsistent with the path you’ve been on

But you go

It is in this step, whether it’s the first, the 15th the 152nd, or the final step

You discover, one tiny bit of strength you had forgotten you had

Then.... you go, another and another

You meet a few, wretched, torn souls who are in the weeds like you

And if you allow it, you can collect some much needed strength from these souls

It resonates in you like hope, from their story of coming out of the weeds

You feel something in their story…

A familiarity? A connection?

So you decide, with whole hearted intention this time...

To take another step... and another and another

By this time... you continue to allow that connection to be your leaning post

Their strength becomes yours and your weakness helps them see their strength, and so the story goes...

In a intertwined connection of your strength and their weakness and your weakness and their strength...

Healing happens

We all help each other out of the pit... out of the weeds

And all it ever takes is one tiny step and a connection

That is the organic ability to heal the addiction we all share weakness in

And then one day, here you are... in a sun drenched memory of that time that you decided, to leap into the unknown direction of a thing that seemed like hope

And it was and it is

Hope and connection and recovery and pride and vision of a future

-Melissa High, Gateway Alumni