The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence fights the stigma and the disease of alcoholism and other drug addictions.

Tree of Hope

Bucks County Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc.
Doylestown, PA

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For anyone whose life has been affected by addiction, the holiday season can produce a strong sense of not belonging or bring back painful memories. Sensing the difficulty this can cause families, NCADD's Doylestown (PA) Affiliate has developed an easily replicable program that publicly celebrates the joys of recovery and offers participants a chance to fight stigma and to give a little something back.

Each year the Bucks County Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (BCCADD) invites members of the community to decorate a Christmas tree with personalized ornaments that bear the names of people who have directly or indirectly experienced addiction. Some choose to recognize individuals who have lost their lives to alcohol or other drugs. Others celebrate their own recovery or the recovery of family members or friends. A few honor professionals whose work has contributed to the health of the community.

Participants can purchase a variety of ornaments ranging in price from a $10 star to a $1500 tree topper. Recycled ornaments and a laser printer--used to create holly decorated labels that attach a name to each ornament--keep expenses low. In 1999 the Tree of Hope raised $7,500 to benefit the BCCADD's 24-hour toll-free Advocacy Line. The program assists families and individuals in finding substance abuse treatment and making sure they receive the benefits to which their entitled under state law.

"Our goal this year is to fill the tree with 1,000 stars, angels and advocacy ornaments to really get the word out that recovery is possible," says Bev Haberle, BCCADD executive director. "Imagine 1,000 stars and angels! What a powerful affirmation of efforts toward successfully reducing stigma to the recovering population!"

With the advent of PRO-ACT, a federally funded BCCADD initiative to build a local constituency among people in recovery, the program has become so successful that the tree--an 18-foot evergreen--was moved from the BCCADD offices to the county courthouse in 1998. Last year, the Tree of Hope dedication ceremony drew nearly 200 people with many PRO-ACT members hanging their personalized ornaments themselves.

The ceremony also features a speaker representing each of the commemorative categories. "Stigma can be so powerful--even within families--that this is the one place where it is safe to say aloud the name of a loved one," observes BCCADD employee Priscilla Weishew, recalling remarks by a mother who lost her son to a heroin overdose.

The move to the county courthouse has served another important purpose: the Tree of Hope vividly reminds people who have entered the criminal justice system--often as a result of an alcohol or drug problem--that appropriate treatment and aftercare can stop the revolving door which has many of them going in and out of jail.

The joy spreads easily, too, and in unexpectedly poignant ways. Last year, a recovering addict shyly approached a county judge. "I never had a chance to tell you what a difference you made in my life when you sentenced me to get some drug treatment," he confided. "That's why I hung a star with your name on the tree."

Has any judge ever received a more meaningful Christmas present?

National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc.

244 East 58th Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10022 phone: 212/269-7797   fax: 212/269-7510 email: national@ncadd.org   http://www.ncadd.org HOPE LINE: 800/NCA-CALL (24-hour Affiliate referral)