Vocal Virginia

10/15/2026

Election Day is approaching—but there is still time to understand your options and make a plan to vote.

Join Vocal Virginia for Your Voice, Your Vote: Getting Ready for Election Day, a free, nonpartisan virtual event created with the mental health and recovery community in mind.

A representative from the League of Women Voters will join us to share practical information and answer participants’ questions.

📅 Tuesday, October 27, 2026
🕐 1:00–2:30 p.m. ET
💻 Virtual and free
🔗 Register: https://bit.ly/3ViOzJ9

Virginia’s deadline to register or update your registration and vote a regular ballot is October 23. However, qualified voters who miss that deadline may still register in person and cast a provisional ballot through Virginia’s same-day registration process. Early in-person voting also continues through October 31.

During this practical session, we will discuss:
• Voting eligibility and common questions about voting rights
• Same-day registration and provisional ballots
• Early voting and Election Day voting
• Polling places and identification requirements
• Accessibility, transportation, and assistance at the polls
• How to create a personal voting plan—including backup options if something gets in the way

ALL peers are welcome. Peer Recovery Specialists are encouraged to share this event at work and with the individuals they serve.

Vocal Virginia is nonpartisan. This event will not promote or discuss candidates, political parties, or endorsements. Our purpose is to provide practical, reliable information so each participant can make their own informed choices.

Bring your questions. Participants will receive a digital collection of voting information and resources following the event.

You have a right to participate, and Vocal Virginia is ready with information that can make doing so easier.

10/14/2026

"I am always amazed at the extraordinary kindness people provide absolute strangers for nothing in return."

"I could tell he didn't really know what was happening, but he knew I had to get off the bus."

10/13/2026

What happens when a group brings its experience, ideas, and collective wisdom together to help someone move forward?

Veteran X is an interactive, peer-led recovery model centered on the evolving story of a fictional Veteran facing many of the real-world challenges that can affect recovery, wellness, and community life.

Monday, November 9, 2026
12:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Virtual | Free
4 CEs
Register: https://bit.ly/4huwIYo

Rather than simply discussing Veteran X’s challenges, participants work together to identify barriers, consider options, build on strengths, and move toward meaningful goals. In the process, the group explores practical strategies that can be applied to participants’ own lives, recovery journeys, and peer-support work.

Led by Tom Pratt, a veteran and longtime peer professional who developed and refined the Veteran X training during his work at the Hampton VA Medical Center, this interactive session will introduce participants to the model’s history, purpose, and core practices.

Veterans, Peer Recovery Specialists, recovery advocates, community leaders, service providers, and others interested in peer-led approaches to recovery are welcome.

At its heart, Veteran X is about problem solving, connection, hope, and the belief that recovery grows through shared experience.

We can't find what you looked for, but we have other events you might like.

10/09/2026

Before we judge the way someone is coping, we might first ask what they have been trying to survive.

Support begins with curiosity, compassion, and respect—not criticism from the shore.

10/07/2026

A 911 call can bring help during an immediate substance use or mental health crisis.

But what happens after the immediate crisis has passed?

Peer Recovery Specialists embedded within EMS can help bridge emergency intervention and continued community-based support—bringing lived experience, relationship, and recovery orientation into a setting people often encounter at one of the most vulnerable moments of their lives.

Join Registered Peer Recovery Specialist Robyn Hantelman for:
FULL CIRCLE ON THE FRONTLINES
Peer Support in EMS
Thursday, October 22
12:00–1:00 p.m. ET
Virtual and free

Robyn will share what she has learned through her work with the Richmond Ambulance Authority, including the possibilities and challenges of integrating peer support into emergency response.

Register free: https://bit.ly/4j3xvAJ

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the way we talk about, experience, and respond to mental health.

10/05/2026

We rarely know the whole of what another person is carrying. A little patience, curiosity, and kindness can matter more than we realize.

10/02/2026

Feeling deeply is not a character flaw. 💙

What small moment has brought you joy lately?

09/30/2026

People with lived experience are not merely recipients of policy. We are constituents.

Voting is one way we exercise self-direction and have a voice in the decisions that affect our lives. But changing procedures and conflicting information can make voting feel confusing or inaccessible.

Join Vocal Virginia for **Your Voice, Your Vote: Getting Ready for Election Day**, a free, nonpartisan virtual event created with the mental health and recovery community in mind.

📅 Tuesday, October 27, 2026
🕐 1:00–2:30 p.m. ET
💻 Virtual and free
🔗 Register: https://bit.ly/3ViOzJ9

During this practical session, we will:

• Address common questions about voting eligibility
• Cover registration, identification, polling places, early and absentee voting, accessibility, and reliable election information
• Create a personal voting plan, including backup options for potential barriers
• Discuss how to support someone preparing to vote without influencing their choices

**ALL peers are welcome.** Peer Recovery Specialists are encouraged to share this event at work and with the individuals they serve.

Vocal Virginia is nonpartisan. This event will not promote or discuss candidates, parties, or endorsements.

You have a right to participate, and Vocal Virginia is ready with information that can make doing so easier.

09/29/2026

Our Summer 2026 Newsletter is here!

This issue celebrates connection, community, and the power of lived experience across Virginia. Inside, you’ll find:

• Highlights from the sold-out 2026 DBHDS Annual Recovery Conference in Roanoke
• Reflections from our Community Conversation at S.E.E. Recovery Center in Culpeper
• A quick Virginia voting check-in with information to help you prepare
• Our Member Spotlight on Joe Stafford, whose remarkable journey illustrates what becomes possible when lived experience is heard, respected, and put to work

Catch up on the people, conversations, and experiences helping move Virginia’s recovery community forward.

Read the Summer 2026 Newsletter:
https://www.vocalvirginia.org/post/vocal-virginia-summer-2026-newsletter

09/28/2026

Transitions can feel uncertain without being wrong. Sometimes the wobble is simply part of the crossing.