BCC Expanding Collegiate Recovery Community
Berkshire Community College launched a Collegiate Recovery Community for its students last fall and will expand its efforts into the spring 2021 semester and beyond. According to the college’s website, The recovery community, Students for Recovery at BCC, is a shared space for students to give and gain peer support, celebrate recovery, pursue their college goals, and find success.
BCC’s Collegiate Recovery Community, a collaboration between the Personal Counseling Center and Student Engagement, has been made possible through the generous support of a BCC Foundation donor. The donor previously helped fund the 2018 Hope and Health Conference at the College, coordinated by Dr. Kari Dupuis, Program Advisor for Human Services.
BCC has engaged Western Massachusetts resident Maureen Babineau, an educational consultant with extensive knowledge of the national landscape of collegiate recovery, to guide and develop the community and the supportive campus culture.
As a person in long-term recovery with a background in residential treatment for substance use, and broad experience in higher education, including student success initiatives, Babineau is passionate about helping all students move forward. Hilary Costa, a graduate intern in Personal Counseling at the College, has partnered with Babineau in the effort.
I approach collegiate recovery through a wellness and multiple pathways lens…I believe collegiate recovery must include a student success component so individuals can thrive in both their student and recovery identities as they pursue their educational and career goals. I believe that identity development is the most important aspect of one’s recovery capital and that reclaiming one’s self is the true work of recovery. ~ Maureen Babineau
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