{"id":3310,"date":"2017-04-18T17:10:00","date_gmt":"2017-04-18T17:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dbhids.org\/dev\/?p=3310"},"modified":"2022-12-06T17:33:04","modified_gmt":"2022-12-06T17:33:04","slug":"peer-to-peer-meeting-those-in-need-where-they-are","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbhids.org\/dev\/peer-to-peer-meeting-those-in-need-where-they-are\/","title":{"rendered":"Peer to Peer: Meeting Those in Need Where They Are"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"3310\" class=\"elementor elementor-3310\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-756a95af elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"756a95af\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-77c446a8\" data-id=\"77c446a8\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6b44d914 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6b44d914\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>By Monica Lewis-Wilborn<\/strong><\/p><p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3312 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/dbhids.org\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/News_PCCU_RamonCruz.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dbhids.org\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/News_PCCU_RamonCruz.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dbhids.org\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/News_PCCU_RamonCruz-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>Ramon Cruz was tired.<\/p><p>He was tired of being in and out of trouble with the law. He was tired of disappointing his family. He was tired of letting his life spin out of control.<\/p><p>It was in that time of despair, when he was at his weakest point, that Ramon found the strength to take charge of his life and find a way to recovery after more than 30 years of substance use and numerous incarcerations. That was two years ago and today, Ramon, 53, is not just off of drugs, but he\u2019s a part of our Certified Peer Specialist program with Community Behavioral Health (CBH), the managed care arm of the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services (DBHIDS) that serves as a voice for and resource to those impacted by behavioral health issues. Each day, Ramon uses his story to help others who find themselves on the same path to nowhere he traveled for so long.<\/p><p>\u201cI realized that all of the liabilities of my past are assets today,\u201d said Ramon, who graduated from our Certified Peer Specialist program last June and has been a peer specialist since August. Through this program, Ramon and others who have self-identified as a person with a serious behavioral health disorder (mental illness or co-occurring disorder) with lived experiences, go through a series of trainings to receive certification to support others in their recovery process. It\u2019s been proven to be an effective program, allowing people dealing with certain challenges to meet and connect with others who can relate to what they are dealing with. There\u2019s mutual trust and respect, which is huge in establishing and sustaining a recovery process, Ramon said.<\/p><p>\u201cWe\u2019re really helping people in recovery learn and strengthen the life skills that will be crucial to them getting themselves together,\u201d said Ramon, who had several stints in jail and was homeless for a period before he decided to seek recovery. Now, he has a job with benefits and enjoys sharing his struggles with the hope that others will not fall as far as he did.<\/p><p>\u201cThat\u2019s what helped me. One day, I just said to myself that I gotta change my way of thinking because the way I\u2019ve been thinking is what got me here,\u201d said Ramon, who finds great joy in being a certified peer specialist and meeting with others who have similar experiences. \u201cMaybe we\u2019re not saving everybody\u2019s life, but we\u2019re saving some lives. Each day, we see that there\u2019s hope.\u201d<\/p><p>To apply for the Certified Peer Specialist program, applicants must have the following:<\/p><ul><li>High school diploma or GED<\/li><li>Demonstrated proficiency in reading and writing<\/li><li>Within the last three years has 12 months (not necessarily consecutive) full or part-time paid or volunteer work experience; one year of college or other educational experience (within the last three years) can be substituted for the work experience<\/li><li>Ability to establish trusting relationships with their peers<\/li><li>Documented proof of serious behavioral health disorder<\/li><li>Commitment to recovery, choice, and empowerment<\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Monica Lewis-Wilborn \u00a0 Ramon Cruz was tired. He was tired of being in and out of trouble with the law. He was tired of disappointing his family. He was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[66,65,31,64,63,48],"class_list":["post-3310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-cbh","tag-certified-peer-specialist","tag-community","tag-mental-wellness","tag-peer-to-peer","tag-philadelphia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v21.5 (Yoast SEO v27.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Peer to Peer: Meeting Those in Need Where They Are - DBHIDS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Peer to Peer: Meeting Those in Need Where They Are\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Monica Lewis-Wilborn \u00a0 Ramon Cruz was tired. 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