Hello! MY name is Christopher Lee Falck and I consider myself a person in Long Term Recovery and what that means to me is; I have been chemically Clean &/or especially Sober Minded from “any” illegal mood altering Drugs &/or Alcohol for over 5 years now. (7-16-13) What that also means to me is I am Not my Disease! (Addict - is a Thing, I am Not Only a Thing) My Disease is just a Small part of me! I am much more then just an Addict! Addiction and Recovery have evolved & I feel a need to evolve with it!

We need a New Language, and New Poets to Create it, and New Ears to Listen to it! We share Our Recovery Story! Not our War Story! We are Solution Focused! Not Problem Focused! We are Positive! Not Negative! We are HUMAN! Not just a Thing! We have Many Characteristics, Not just one! I have Many Characteristics; I am a Husband, a Father, a Son, a Brother, a Uncle, a Nephew, a Cousin, a Employee, a Employer, a Tax Payer, a Voter, a Home Owner, a Active Community Supporter, a Volunteer, a Advocate, a Peer supporter, a Network, a link, a conduit, a Friend, a Human... Long Term Recovery has Given Me New HOPE & Stability! In my search to Find Myself, How &/or why My Mind acts the way it does & does the things it did, I was given a gift from God himself. “Constant Conscious Contact” and a spiritual realization of God within Me, has Helped Me to find Values to help others.

I have been able to stay sober.... Only by giving my Willingness to God! In return God took my cravings away so I can have a sound Mind, Body, & Spirit! I am a full time student working towards a Masters Degree in Alcohol and Drug, Co-Occurring Mental Health Counseling at Metropolitan State University in Saint Paul, Minnesota while working as the Lead Peer Recovery Specialist for Minnesota Recovery Connections, contracted out to Fairview/Health East on a 2 years, $500,000.00 grant to a Mobile SUDS Substance Use Disorder Support Team working with Peers in Crisis in Emergency Rooms of 8 hospitals across 3 counties. In my studies and lived experiences, I have learned about endless amounts of pathways to recovery and witnessed many ways to Live a Fulfilled Life, in Recovery! I have also added a Certified Prevention Professional credential along the way to help aim towards my Big, Long Term Goal, Prevention; “The Solution!”

I took up a hobby that fell in my lap, We take Our Sobriety Medallions out of pockets and hidden in purse bottoms and Puts them on fingers in form of a Recovery Ring that sparks up much needed conversations about Recovery! Awareness! These Conversations Need to take place! I practice anonymity to its fullest meaning yet separate it from being Anonymous. God don't want me to be anonymous! He puts me in peoples lives &/or In places for Me to Show My Face and so you can Hear My Voice! I am One of 23 Million (SAMSHA) people that identify as in Recovery just in the United States and now that we are finally raising Awareness, and reducing STIGMA, We can Begin to plant some seeds on “How can we Prevent this deadly disease of addiction?"