Alumni Connections > Alumni Ambassador Program
Alumni Ambassador Program
Are you a Mountainside Alumni who is in long-term recovery and interested in volunteering to help others who are starting their own recovery journeys? As you know, connection with others who can relate to your experience is a crucial component of thriving after treatment. If you’re interested in supporting new Alumni, we invite you to volunteer as part of our Alumni Ambassador Program.
Why should YOU be an Alumni Ambassador?
Here at Mountainside, we believe in the transformative power of peer connection. That’s why we’ve created the Alumni Ambassador Program – a unique opportunity for our Alumni in long-term recovery to take an active role in shaping the lives of newer Alumni. As an Alumni in long-term recovery, you are uniquely positioned to provide peers with meaningful guidance and support. By attending meetings, sharing your experiences, and offering a helping hand to newer Alumni, you will help ease the stress associated with leaving treatment and beginning a sober lifestyle. Your presence and empathy will make a profound impact on the early recovery of someone who may really need the support that only you can provide.
To add to your invaluable lived experience, the Mountainside Alumni Services team will provide you with additional tools and resources to effectively support new alumni. Through our comprehensive virtual Ambassador Training course, you will be empowered to activate and nurture recovery networks, and guide others on their path to wellness. You will gain valuable insights and strategies to navigate the complexities of post-treatment life, ensuring that you are well-prepared to make a positive difference in your volunteer work. What you learn will enrich your own life in recovery, too. As you extend a helping hand to others, you will undoubtedly strengthen your own support network and you will have the opportunity to grow as a person while being of service to others.
Qualifications and Requirements
- Alumni Ambassadors must have at least one year of continuous sobriety, and pledge to remain abstinent from alcohol and drugs.
- You must regularly attend and actively participate in community support meetings (AA, NA, SMART, Refuge, etc.)
- You must participate in an introductory phone call with an individual in treatment at Mountainside.
- You must act as a peer-support for new alumni, help them build recovery networks and attend support meetings with them.
- You must be eager and inspired to be of service to others in recovery.
- You must attend a mandatory virtual Ambassador Training course.
There are 3 steps to becoming an Alumni Ambassador:
1.
Click here to sign the Ambassador Agreement (via DocuSign)
2.
Register to attend (via Eventbrite)
3.
Click here to join the training (via Microsoft Teams) at your designated meeting time
Words From Our Ambassadors
Being an Alumni Ambassador has been a rewarding experience for countless Mountainside Alumni. See what they have to say!
Through my work as an Alumni Ambassador, I have learned that disclosing my lived experience with addiction and recovery is a very powerful way of bringing hope to those who are still in active addiction and early recovery.
The Ambassador program allows me the opportunity to give back to those beginning their journey. I make myself available to lend an ear or give a suggestion of something that has worked for me. Reaching out to others after the isolation of substance dependency is critical in my opinion.
I’ve really enjoyed being an Alumni Ambassador. I know how important it can be to know that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and I am happy to be evidence of that light.
The Ambassador program gives me a sense of purpose. To know that I can help someone along on their journey means the world to me.