A dual diagnosis of a mental illness and substance abuse addiction does not have to be a death sentence; there is always recovery.

Brenda R. Morris is a 55-year-old woman living in recovery and returning the gift of healing to others. She does this through her job, by being an active part of the community, and by telling her story.

“If someone were to have just touched me on the shoulder and said everything is going to be O.K. my life would not have been in such shambles,” said Morris.

Morris took the initiative to help others as a recovery support specialist (RSS) at La Frontera working with the ADMIRE Plus program. According to the ADMIRE Plus handbook, “ADMIRE Plus is an outpatient treatment program that helps those with co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders.”

An RSS must complete training through the Community Partnership of Southern Arizona a non-profit program that organizes the behavior health services in southern and southeastern Arizona. The training gave Morris the tools she needed to help those in the community who have been affected by their own mental illness and addiction. The program coordinators educate the participants on how to effectively handle symptoms and cravings all at once, rather than focus on one issue at a time. Morris is a graduate of ADMIRE Plus.

“I get the biggest kick out of doing the orientations,” said Morris. “When I’ve said ‘I graduated from this program’ and they look at me and say ‘she’s staff!’ They say ‘wow! I can be an addict and still work!’ I tell them this opportunity is not just for me; this is an open opportunity.”

While Morris has seemed to restart her own life along with helping others, she is especially seen as a role model for African Americans.

Morris comes from a community that is known for getting help with mental illness or addiction. La Frontera’s 2006-2007 Outcome Evaluation Summary Report, which includes the demographics of clients, shows that last year less than five percent of clients were black.

"I don’t look at it is as just being a role model for African-Americans," she said. "I am a role model for people."

Morris was born and raised in Tucson, Ariz., the eighth of 11 children. Three of her siblings, including a twin, lost their lives to addiction and Morris was working on becoming another statistic when she got clean. When Morris initially began her recovery journey she was made fun of by some of her relatives. She would come home from groups, excited about something that she had learned, but was told that what she was doing was “for white people.” Morris pushed through the scrutiny with the support of her daughter, who saw positive changes in her mom.

Success did not happen overnight for Morris. She needed the education and tools that ADMIRE Plus gave her to get where she is today. An example of a tool she uses to stay sober is the“ABC’s” from the SMART Recovery Handbook. This exercise forces her to write things down, look at them and change her thinking or beliefs.

Today Morris is six years sober. She blames pride as being the reason some blacks do not reach out for help. That is the driving force behind her going to work and helping others.

“It helps to know that being a recovered addict doesn’t take your life away from you and that it actually has some attributes,” Morris said. “I get to have that pride that I’m still valuable to the world and that means a lot to a person who they told ‘your mental ability is slacking’.”