In this holiday season, consider a donation to Faces and Voices of Recovery http://www.facesandvoicesofrecovery.org/.  FAVOR is the only national recovery advocacy organization and is celebrating their 10^th anniversary.  A worthy cause for your dollars.  And they are able to match all donations through December 31, so twice the bang for your bucks.  Plus they have opened a webstore.  Pretty limited so far, but perhaps you’ve been wanting a “Got recovery?” tee shirt.

Starting in January, 2012 Signal will begin the Provider-of-the-Month program for its network providers!  Signal values its providers and their hard work in serving their communities.  We created this free program to help your agency spread the word about the wonderful things you are doing in substance abuse treatment!  It is our way of supporting your efforts and saying THANKS for everything you do.    

Here are some examples of the Provider-of-the-Month benefits:

Presence on the Signal website (www.signalbhn.org)

Mentions through Signal’s social media channels

Email blasts to Signal’s provider network

Here’s how the program works:

November 17, 2011 is the Great American Smokeout sponsored by the American Cancer Society.  Smokers are encouraged to use this date to make a plan to quit.  By doing so, smokers will take an important step towards a healthier life.  Quitting is NOT easy but there is help!  The Colorado QuitLine is a great resource:  https://colorado.quitlogix.org/default.aspx

Here are 10 tips to help quit smoking:

Tip #1: Keep Active - go for a walk or go to the gym.

Tip #2: Drink lots of water!  Water is cooling, soothing, refreshing, healing, and detoxifying!

Tip #3: Try using nicotine replacement if that is your choice.

Tip #4: Attend a stop-smoking class or follow a self-help plan

Tip #5: Avoid situations where the urge to smoke is strong.

Tip #6: Reduce or avoid alcohol. A good idea ALL the time!

Tip #7: Think about how much money you would save if you kept up the good work!  One pack of cigarettes per day, costs almost $3K annually!

Tip #8: Think about the positive impact it will have on your body! After 24 hours of no smoking, your chance of a heart attack decreases significantly.

Tip #9: Tell a friend about your plan and ask them to help keep you busy and hold you accountable!

Tip #10: Find an oral substitute: Keep other things around to pop in your mouth when you’re craving a cigarette.