What Friends Are For

A songwriting project seeks to celebrate recovery and benefits a local nonprofit, plus more of the week's health news

by

Some metro Richmond residents recovering from opioid addiction have had their recovery stories celebrated in music.

A compilation CD, set for release at an event on Saturday, showcases a dozen Richmond musicians who have taken the tales of recovery and transformed them into unique songs. Proceeds from the CD benefit Friends 4 Recovery, a nonprofit in Chesterfield County that is a peer-run wellness and education center for people in recovery.

The songs focus on how recovery has changed lives for the better and how those recovering got clean, got a job and started getting their lives together, instead of a “focus on all the bad stuff that got them into their valley,’ says Larry Almarode, executive director of the nonprofit, which was founded in 2009. “The gist of [the songs] on the album should come from a place of what life has been like since recovery.”

The Friends center, where meetings are held and services are provided by day, is transformed on weekends into a nightclub of sorts, where people in recovery can go out and enjoy themselves in a safe environment. The reasoning is that just because you’re in recovery, it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy yourself. Drugs and drinks are off the table, but those in recovery may still like to shoot pool, toss darts, go out and listen to music.

Since the spring, Friends 4 Recovery has offered its members a potluck dinner with a singer-songwriter performing on Fridays and a cookout and live music on Saturdays, says Almarode. About 40 to 50 people attend each night. The Saturday cookouts feature healthy fare such as grilled salmon or chicken.

The CD release event will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Friends 4 Recovery Whole Health Center, 7420 Whitepine Road, North Chesterfield. The event is free and open to the public.

“We’re really excited about it,” says Almarode.

Work began on the project in April, with the songs recorded on 16-track tape at Snow Moon Studio. The CD is set for release on Planetary Records. Participating artists include Calvin Cecil, Sean Contreras, Eli Gardiner, Susan Greenbaum, Jonathan Greenberg, Amy Henderson, Genu Jay, Janet Martin, Pam McCarthy, Martin McNeil, Normal Norman, Jessica Salmonsky and Brooke Saunders.

Saunders, an organizer for the project and a performer, says that some of the musicians wrote from personal experience, while most took a story of someone else and transformed it into a song. The project had its origins in an earlier effort to create songs on demand within an hour, says Saunders. That involved having someone write a melody and another musicians coming up with the lyrics.

“We came out with some really good songs, but they never went anywhere,” he says.

This compilation features performers with mostly pop, rock, folk and blues chops. About half are acoustic and most of the others are more electric, offering complementary styles and a seamless listening experience, says Saunders.

Some of the people in recovery who submitted their stories did so anonymously, while others were upfront about who they are and what they’ve faced. Saunders says some of the musicians had only voicemail messages to work with. Saunders says he'd like to pursue additional, similar music benefits, and another project may soon follow to benefit suicide prevention efforts.

CAPSULES

Death by Statistics

While fewer Americans are dying each year from cancer, stroke and heart disease, spikes in drug overdoses and in Alzheimer’s disease deaths have led to the first declines in life expectancy at birth since 1993.

Life expectancy for an infant born in 2016 was 78.6, a decline of .3 years since 2014, according to information released Sept. 20 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report, Health, United States, 2017, notes that life expectancy at birth for 2016 was 76.1 years for boys and 81.1 for girls.

Heart disease deaths have dropped from 257.6 (per 100,000) in 2000 to 165.5 in 2016; cancer deaths dropped from a rate of 199.6 per 100,000 in 2000 to 155.8 in 2016; and stroke deaths dropped from a rate of 60.9 at the start of the century to 37.3 in 2016.

Those gains were offset by significant increases in the rate of unintentional injuries, which includes drug overdoses (up from 34.9 per 100,000 deaths in 2000 to 47.4 in 2016), and in deaths from Alzheimer’s disease (18.1 in 2000 to 30.3 in 2016), chronic liver disease and cirrhosis (19.8 in 2006 for ages 45 to 64, and at 25.9 in 2016), and suicides (10.4 in 2000 to 13.5 per 100,000 in 2016).

The data also offered some interesting insights into access to health care, and some health anomalies:

  • Access to health care improved through 2016, with the percentage of Americans adults younger than 65 who are uninsured at 10.3 percent in 2016, compared with 17 percent in 2000 and 10.6 percent in 2015.
  • The percentage of Americans 20 and older who are obese rose from 23.2 percent in 2002 to 38.7 from 2013 to 2016.
  • But while we are collectively gaining weight, we are also adapting some healthier lifestyles. For instance, more Americans are engaging in strength or aerobic exercise was reported at 21.9 percent in 2016, up from 20.9 percent in 2015 and 15.1 percent at the beginning of the century.
  • Also, the number of adult smokers has dropped from 23.2 percent in 2000 to 15.5 in 2016. There was an uptick of .4 percent from 2015, though.

Cancer Study

The link between cognitive decline in people receiving chemotherapy for breast and endometrial cancer and a gene that regulates estrogen and neurotransmitter levels will be the subject of a research study at the Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Nursing. The study will be funded through a $2.1 million grant, according to a release.