Why Learning Is the Heart of Recovery

From Training to Transformation

Every September, communities across the country honor National Recovery Month — a time to celebrate the strength of individuals, families, and communities, and to spotlight the many pathways that make healing possible.

Most of the time, conversations about recovery focus on treatment and support. Those are absolutely essential. But what if we expanded the lens? What if we also saw education and learning as central to recovery itself?

At VAMHAR, we’ve spent years listening to people across Vermont — people with lived experience of substance use, family members, service providers, employers, and community leaders. Again and again, one truth emerged:

👉 People want to learn.
👉 People want to lead.
👉 And people want their experiences to mean something.

That insight is what inspired the launch of the Collective Learning Institute of Vermont (CLI-VT) — a first-of-its-kind initiative designed to bring peer-informed, trauma-aware, equity-centered training to people across the state.

CLI-VT isn’t just another training program. It’s a platform for transformation. It’s a place where learning doesn’t trickle down — it grows outward, like mycelium, connecting communities with new ways of thinking, leading, and healing.

What Makes CLI-VT Different

• Rooted in lived experience
  The people closest to the challenges are also closest to the solutions. CLI-VT centers lived experience as both expertise and leadership.

• Trauma-informed and healing-centered
  Learning environments should be as safe as possible, inclusive, and responsive. Our trainings are designed to honor dignity, acknowledge harm, and cultivate growth.

• From knowledge to action
  CLI-VT workshops don’t stop at theory. Participants leave with practical tools they can use to shape workplaces, influence policy, and strengthen communities.

• A growing ecosystem
  CLI-VT brings together a diverse network — from young adults and peer leaders to executive professionals, healthcare providers, and policymakers. Together, they’re co-creating Vermont’s ecosystem of knowledge.

Stories of Transformation

For many participants, CLI-VT is more than professional development. It’s a spark. A turning point.

“CLI-VT helped me see a future I hadn’t imagined for myself. Now I plan to open a youth center and a mixed martial arts gym — a space where young people can build strength, resilience, and community.”

These aren’t just personal wins. They are examples of how learning, when done differently, ripples outward — changing systems, workplaces, and whole communities.

Why Learning Is the Heart of Recovery

Recovery is not a checklist or a single destination. It’s about rebuilding purpose, identity, and connection. And that process depends on learning — about self, about systems, about new ways forward.

When people are equipped with knowledge and leadership skills, they’re better able to:

• Advocate for themselves and others

• Challenge stigma in workplaces and institutions

• Build programs and policies that reflect dignity and equity

• Inspire the next generation of leaders

Learning doesn’t just support recovery. It is recovery.

An Invitation This Recovery Month

This September, as we honor Recovery Month, we invite Vermonters — employers, service providers, policymakers, families, and peers — to join us in reimagining what recovery education can look like.

✨ Take a training.
✨ Share your story.
✨ Help us co-create the future of recovery education in Vermont.

Together, we can build systems that don’t just respond to recovery but grow from it.

🔗 Learn more or register for upcoming trainings: vamhar.org/trainings