Vocal Virginia Summer 2025 Newsletter

Our Own of the Roanoke Valley has a New Home!

We’re excited to share that On Our Own of the Roanoke Valley (OOORV) has moved to a beautiful new location at 1122 2nd Street, SW, Roanoke. After 17 years on Elm Avenue, this new space, nearly twice the size, offers a fresh start and renewed opportunities for community, healing, and support.

While the address has changed, OOORV’s mission remains the same. It continues to be a safe, welcoming space for individuals on their recovery journey. Open seven days a week, OOORV offers daily peer support groups, specialized programming for women and veterans, recovery workshops, fun events like karaoke and community games, and a peaceful backyard and wraparound porch for anyone who just wants a quiet place to be.

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Using ChatGPT to Support Wellness & Recovery: Highlights from the DBHDS Recovery Conference

At the DBHDS Recovery Conference, I had the opportunity of leading a 90-minute workshop titled “Using ChatGPT to Support and Enhance Recovery and Wellness.” This session wasn’t about promoting technology—it was about exploring how a tool, when used with intention, can support practices we already hold dear in peer support: reflection, self-compassion, problem-solving, and gentle structure.

The workshop drew from lived experience. At one point I was headed toward burnout, but the true turning point wasn’t an app—it was recognizing what was happening and choosing to respond with care. I used ChatGPT not as therapy, but as a framework to design a reset/restore/renew plan—simple tools like gentle movement, time in nature, and intentional rest organized into a paced, low-pressure checklist that supported what I already knew I needed.

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Member Spotlight: Billie Carroll

Billie Carroll has spent decades walking the path of recovery and guiding others along the way. As a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist (CPRS) and Certified Older Adults Peer Specialist (COAPS), Billie brings both personal experience and professional expertise to her work. Her recovery journey, deeply rooted in holistic wellness, began in childhood and has since blossomed into a life of service, education, and empowerment.

Growing up, Billie faced early struggles with anxiety and depression, which eventually led to self-medication and substance use. It was through these challenges that her recovery began, first by addressing her substance use and then broadening her focus to mental and emotional well-being. Since 2002, Billie has been on a dedicated journey of healing, one that embraces multiple paths but consistently centers on three core practices: yoga, meditation, and Ayurveda. (For those who are unfamiliar with Ayurveda, it’s a traditional system of medicine from India that emphasizes balance of body, mind, and spirit through individualized lifestyle, diet, and natural therapies.)

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