Testimonials
02.01.2020
“I attended The Copeland Center’s 3 programs on Microaggressions many months ago. At the end of each program Waynette shared about the Raw & Uncut group. In being a novice when it comes to being involved with the Black Lives Matter movement I immediately jumped on board to attend the group. I did not know one person when I entered that Zoom room. I needed to find a place where I could communicate with people about how angry and upset I was and how I as a white person needed to make serious changes in myself and through advocacy as well. I immediately found a cohesive group of individuals from all different walks of life – people who have achieved wellness, who are still working to achieve wellness and people at the beginning of their journeys not to mention people of all different backgrounds – race, religion, and so much more. The group has not only provided me a place to share emotion but also ask questions in a non-judgmental atmosphere. The group has become a place where people who have never met in person have gotten to know one another and care about one another. People touch base outside the group and when I haven’t been able to attend when I go back people tell me they missed me. Raw & Uncut – I would highly recommend it for anyone who wants a non-judgmental place to learn and grow”
Participant, New Jersey “
A niche space to be yourself that accepts you and supports you, Raw and Uncut is essential to my life and well-being. I look forward to these meetings every Monday and Friday, where I can speak my mind and be embraced and supported by some of the most authentic and empathetic people I’ve ever met” Participant, Virginia “I’ve never had a safer place to share my raw and uncut stories of wellness and recovery, challenges and growth, met with unconditional love and support from our group. “
Participant, Florida
When I saw One New Heartbeat start up and I got to be a small part of it, I saw more than just ambition. I felt the compassion and the strength that these individuals have to help others. After so many years of searching, I found something in me that I've been looking for in me. I've brought that knowledge with me to Costa Rica and it has been keeping me safe each minute that I live. Everyday that I leave my front door, I look for a better day. So I thank all of you for giving me a new life. Your all in my prayers each day and in my thoughts every minute.
Love, Joe Mendoza Company : USMC Retired
Peer Groups Proven to Help Veterans with Housing and Job Sustainability
by Ren Kramer
A SAMHSA conference was held for grantees and consumers of homeless housing April 23rd thru April 28th in Washington DC. As a client and receiver of a Section 8 housing voucher, I applied for and was fortunate to receive a scholarship to attend the conference. It was 3 ½ days of intense workshops involving 400 SAMHSA professionals and 36 clients. The emphasis was on client feedback on what was successful for them and what may not have worked so well. As a member of the Board of Directors for One New Heartbeat and being scheduled to take the WRAP facilitator course in June 2011, I was very interested in seeing how the WRAP program was viewed by the grantors and grantees for the homeless. Did the pros even know about WRAP? Had WRAP been successful? How had the pros implemented WRAP? Being new to the WRAP program, I listened carefully to what was said and two messages came through loudly and clearly throughout the conference: 1) peer groups increased the sustainability of housing and jobs from 60% to 90% for client attendees and 2) the WRAP program was a highly thought of way for getting wellness skills to clients. As a strong believer in the WRAP concept, I was highly energized and have made an immediate priority and developing this as an adjunct tool for veterans in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. For me, it is an easy to teach tool that will help any age group maintain their health and mental wellness. The federal government representatives (the Surgeon General’s people that I talked with, especially) felt that the WRAP program when combined with a scheduled peer group fit their two main criteria for government approval: cost effectiveness and a strong evidence base practice success rate.
The train is at the station—let’s go for a ride!
03.2021
Thank you so much for all your support, time, energy' and commitment in ensuring the wellness of members of our community.
Program Manager of StarVista's Crisis lntervention and Suicide Prevention Center.
12.01.20
Addressing the opioid epidemic with early interventions and prevention strategies Self-monitoring using Taking Action & WRAP®: An individualized system for monitoring and responding to uncomfortable feelings and behaviors including addictions. Difficult feelings and behaviors are normal responses to traumatic circumstances to what is happening in your life and should not be minimized. This process is designed to help change the way we think about those areas of our lives that need to be changed, and also focuses on how to develop and keep a strong support system that fits your individual needs.
"Recovery can be confusing, frightening and elusive. At least that is my experience. Like many others, a number of inpatient and outpatient treatment programs did not provide me with ‘something’ that I needed to recover my hope and life. I heard many clichés and directives about ‘staying clean and sober’. I tried to understand my addictions and ‘issues’. Sadly, no strategy that I was offered helped me to understand how to feel better, empowered me to take control of my feelings or to manage my reactions to life’s challenges. In hindsight, after many years seeking some elusive and mysterious key that would help me to begin to live, feel, relate and exist in the world in a way that I could be comfortable with, I learned about ‘wellness’ through WRAP. It was a new concept that I had never heard of before. A part of my recovery journey is that I have become a Certified Addictions Treatment Counselor. In the process, I learned much about addictions and why they operate so powerfully in the human mind, heart and spirit ... overcoming even survival instinct. Addictions operate in the physiology, mental, emotional and spiritual realms. Many recovery paths and strategies support people to stop using substances, but many feel they stop short of facilitating processes of healing and personal empowerment. It is clear to me that WRAP offers a framework for wellness that is the most effective addiction treatment and management tool that I know of. It gives one tools they can use and proactive plans things they ‘can’ do, rather than focusing on what not to do. That is not to disparage 12 Step or any other recovery models. WRAP never does that. WRAP is simply a complimentary addition to any other strategies that a person may choose to engage in to achieve personal recovery and a life that they want for themselves. The reasons are many … and simple. Addiction behaviors are reactions to emotional stimuli that a person does not have healthy coping skills and tools to manage. WRAP offers exactly the right tools, for the right challenges, at the right time (‘when you need them’ Plans and Action Plans) that empower people to ‘respond’ to difficult feelings, rather than ‘react’ to them. Having had a personal WRAP for more than nine years (almost 20 in personal recovery), I can share that it has given me choices and options that support me having a life of peace, joy, empowerment and freedom that I had never been able to imagine before my addiction, and certainly not after it became active. The reality of having the ability to affect my own states of emotional, mental and physical wellness fuels my perspective that life becomes amazing when people are empowered with the ability to simply be well. That there is a simple plan, supported by wellness tools and actions unique to each individual’s needs is amazingly simple … and doable by anyone, regardless of past experiences. That people can use WRAP to recover their wellness, defend against difficult feelings that drive the triggers, despair, desperation and hopelessness of addictions is nothing short of miraculous. "
Current Mentee
" FROM CONVICT TO CEO"
HOW WRAP® & Mentoring for Re-Entering SAVED MY LIFE
Current Mentee