Recovery Of All Kinds is striving to help ECC students
March 24, 2022
Recovery of All Kinds (ROAK) is a club that’s helped dozens of students across campus and they could even help you. ROAK helps students recover from alcoholism, drug abuse, mental health, and more.
They meet weekly on zoom and have events on campus throughout the year. Former Elgin Community College student, Victoria Tischer, started the club two years ago.
“I started the club,” Tischer said. “Being in recovery myself, I went to ECC myself to get my associate in substance abuse counseling. In one of the classes, we had the opportunity to run a group. My position was can we start a club instead of running a group for our class project. My teacher pushed back and I pushed back. Now two years later this is where the club is at.”
Tischer runs a club that currently has around five to six students a session. ROAK focuses on talking with the group because they feel that talking is the best way to help.
“Typically we talk a little bit about upcoming business, such as what is going on,” Tischer said. “Then we talk about the best part of the week and then the worst, or what we’re struggling with the most. Offer that vulnerability because you don’t know who can be struggling with the same thing and what we say helps others.”
ROAK has already impacted several students. However, there is still much more they have planned.
“On April 8th, we’ll stuff easter eggs with positive affirmations and spread them across ECC,” Tischer said. “On the week of Easter people can come back and grab an egg. May is also mental health awareness month. So we are in the works of trying to put together a self-care clinic and we are in the works of trying to put together a panel of people who have struggled with mental health and a chance for them to provide their experience, strength, and help.”
Tischer is someone who creates trust with her ability to relate with the group and her willingness to help. Her impact will be felt by many students at ECC.
“My favorite success story is when someone came to one of their first club meetings,” Tischer said. “During that meeting, she said this is the first time she said out loud that she is an alcoholic. She continued to stay connected and I’m still connected with her and we still go to meetings outside of the club. She is coming up on a year and a half of sobriety.”
