If you haven’t caught the series ‘Intervention’ on A&E, it’s pretty intense. In an attempt to become a player in the recovery field (great idea), A&E is starting by holding a walk for recovery on Saturday, September 27 at 8:30am. The walk is accross the Brooklyn Bridge, starting at the Brooklyn side ending in Manhattan with events and speakers. For more info and to register, visit the recovery rally page.

Last month, I finished the campaign I have been working on in conjunction with NCADD (National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependency). Using the Sappi ‘Ideas that Matter’ grant, posters and brochures were printed and distributed to NCADD affiliate offices throughout the country. They’ll be used in rehabs, detoxes, recovery centers, counseling offices, EAP offices, college campuses and more!

The project reflects the design and mission of stop and start over, and is titled ‘Hope, Help & Healing. To view the materials visit NCADD’s site where the pdf’s are posted. YAY!

I’ll be participating in a panel discusion at AIGA’s Cause/Effect event.

The event looks at the intersection of design and social responsibility, and I will be on a panel (moderated by Steven Heller), discussing ’social entrepreneurship’, and talking about Stop and Start Over. So if you’re a design student in New York, come on by and check it out!

Stop and Start over has been awarded a Sappi Grant as part of their “Ideas that Matter” program (see earlier post). What exactly does this mean? I will be working with the non-profit NCADD (National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependency) to create a campaign based on the current graphics and content of the project. With the money, a series of brochures and posters will be produced. They will then be distributed through NCADD’s wide-spread network of affiliates. VERY exciting to get this project further out there in the world (not just online).

The project must be executed by February, so here i go!

Spam has been creeping its way into the discussion board lately. So annoying. I’ve been trying to keep an eye on it and immediately delete these naughty posts, and am in the process of figuring out a solution to keep them out permanently.

Please bear with me in the meantime! Thanks.

What’s new with the project? I’ve just submitted a grant application to Sappi, for their ‘Ideas that matter’ initiative. They award monetary grants to designers to help them implement projects that serve the causes that are closest to their hearts.

I have aligned myself with a non-profit for the grant, the NCADD (National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence). They are an organization with a team of great people, passionate about what they do. And they have affiliates nation-wide.

The idea is to continue the mission of stopandstartover, this time executing it through a series of posters and brochures. Notification of whether or not you get the grant isn’t until August, so I’ll keep you posted!

So, I got an email from Larry W. who hosts a digital radio show in LA called recovery talk network. I’ll be on the air with him on Tuesday, May 22, 8-9pm (pac), 11-12pm (est). To tune in visit crntalk.com and click on CRN1 at the scheduled time for streaming audio.

If you don’t catch the show live, I’ll be recording it and posting it on the site so you can listen to it another time.

Stop and Start Over began as a year-long thesis project. And that year has come to an end. I find myself a little depressed at the thought of no longer being a student. Being able to concentrate on one thing I believe in for so long has been a treat. But it’s time to move on. Life is funny like that.

When I began my first year at the School of Visual Art’s MFA Designer as Author program I already knew I wanted to do my thesis on something recovery-related. Five years ago, recovery gave me my life back. And being a designer, I found myself in the position of being able to create something that I feel has the potential to help people.

This year, the project went through SO many changes, from the name, the content, the way it looked, the platform, the strategy, you name it. With the help of many advisors and friends, I was able to settle on a direction I’m happy with. And now, it’s suddenly done. Of course being a designer, I will always be tweaking and pushing it further. But for now, I can let it rest, and release it out into the world.

Thanks to everyone for visiting the site, please pass it along, and participate. It will continue to grow with new content and features in the future.

So the presentation last night went great! It’s easy to talk about something I’m so passionate about. It came from the heart, and that came accross. The panel gave great feedback. Milton Glaser told me what I was doing was important – the marriage of design and worthy cause (he said it more eloquently – i was on cloud nine so it’s hard to recall word-for-word). That was pretty cool.

So, the site still has a few bugs I need to work out before I officially blog about it on other sites and send out a press release. I encourage everyone to REGISTER on the discussion board and start posting questions and answers. Also, submit stories and book and movie recommendations!

Thank you to everyone for all your help and support

So… tomorrow is the BIG day. I present my project to the committee. I’ve done the preparation, the visuals, the rehearsing, and am ready! At least that’s what I keep telling myself.

Stop and Start Over is so important to me, and I’ve worked so hard on it over the past year. I think this will come accross in my presentation. I also look forward to telling a room full of people that I am an alcoholic and addict (in recovery). It will certainly grab their attention.

So tomorrow night at 6:10 everyone send good thoughts. During the day I’ll try and stay calm, do some yoga, go to a meeting, breathe. Onward!