End the Stigma 64

07/25/2026

What an amazing story of recovery!! Dani is a beautiful soul!!

Join us in celebrating Dani Sims, the 2026 recipient of the Carie J. Wimberly Impact Award.

As Assistant Director of the Recovery Resource Center in Birmingham and Recovery Coordinator for Alabama's first interdisciplinary street medicine team, Care for Our Journey, Dani is a passionate advocate for individuals impacted by substance use and homelessness. Drawing from her own lived experience in long-term recovery, she leads with compassion, connects people to life-changing resources, and empowers others to find hope and healing.

We are honored to recognize Dani's dedication, leadership, and lasting impact on our community. Congratulations, Dani!

Join us at APC Celebrates: A Night in the Light on September 24 as we honor Dani and other outstanding leaders making a difference in our community.

Learn more and reserve a table: https://nightinthelight.swell.gives/

07/07/2026

It’s just an herbal supplement…don’t fall for that!

⚠️ Florida is expanding its emergency ban on what officials call "gas station morphine," targeting seven new chemical compounds that manufacturers have been using to skirt last year's restrictions on a kratom extract linked to at least 587 overdose deaths since 2013.

The original ban last year went after 7-hydroxymitragynine, a concentrated extract of the kratom plant that state chemists found can be up to 13 times more potent than morphine. It was being sold openly at gas stations, v**e shops, and convenience stores in colorful packaging next to candy bars. But manufacturers quickly reformulated their products using alternative chemical compounds to dodge the restrictions and keep selling. The expanded emergency rule now covers seven specific chemicals and establishes strict limits: no more than 1 milligram of any banned compound per gram of product, and any product containing these chemicals must also contain at least 100 times more natural, unaltered mitragynine by mass 🔍.

Violations carry up to 30 years in prison. Florida Agriculture inspectors have already pulled more than 23,000 packages of illegal 7-OH products from store shelves. Florida Poison Control reported 95 exposure cases in just the first four months of 2026, a pace that will surpass last year's total. A Jacksonville mother who lost her 27-year-old son to a kratom concentrate called on Floridians to demand better scrutiny of products "that can be purchased in convenience stores without the level of scrutiny we expect from a substance that affects our bodies and minds." The Florida Legislature has pledged to make the emergency restrictions permanent during the next session.

📌 Sourced from verified news outlets. We summarize, we don't report.

03/22/2026

Meditation

03/18/2026

Lauren C. Thomas

If you’re lost, don’t lose hope. If you’re hurting, there is healing.
If you’re broke, pay attention.
If you need help, I’m only one message away from helping you find relief and recovery.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a man, woman, or you choose to be recognized as something else. It doesn’t matter if your broke, homeless, or cooking out of a silver spoon and snorting with $100’s.
I am here.
I love you.
You’re worthy and I’ll be the hand that guides you to a better way and a better life.
I am sober, I am in long-term recovery, I have a precious God loving husband who changed with me not for me, but because he wanted it for himself. I cherish my husband. He is my biggest supporter and I am his. I love my life today, and I have put the work in to get here, but God and my program did the heavy lifting. I just keep pushing one day at a time.
There is hope, I am living, breathing proof that God is real and I was worthy.

03/17/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AmAhTT4Ne/?mibextid=wwXIfr

03/17/2026

If you’re lost, don’t lose hope. If you’re hurting, there is healing.
If you’re broke, pay attention.
If you need help, I’m only one message away from helping you find relief and recovery.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a man, woman, or you choose to be recognized as something else. It doesn’t matter if your broke, homeless, or cooking out of a silver spoon and snorting with $100’s.
I am here.
I love you.
You’re worthy and I’ll be the hand that guides you to a better way and a better life.
I am sober, I am in long-term recovery, I have a precious God loving husband who changed with me not for me, but because he wanted it for himself. I cherish my husband. He is my biggest supporter and I am his. I love my life today, and I have put the work in to get here, but God and my program did the heavy lifting. I just keep pushing one day at a time.
There is hope, I am living, breathing proof that God is real and I was worthy.

03/17/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1C7ie6KoZK/?mibextid=wwXIfr

✨ Meet the Team — Shania Byrd ✨

Shania Byrd is a powerful example of perseverance and redemption. After overcoming years of hardship, loss, and addiction, she found a new beginning through City of Lights Dream Center. Her commitment to healing and growth led her into stability, leadership, and renewed purpose. 💛

Today, Shania serves in a supervisory role and encourages others every day with hope, strength, and unwavering determination 🤍✨