DENVER — A Colorado nonprofit organization, focused on helping train leaders to support employees impacted by substance abuse, is preparing for its inaugural fundraiser this September.
The executive director of Recovery Friendly Leader shared his motivation behind starting the organization, which comes in part from his own story. Dr. John Narine said a battle with addiction led him to abuse alcohol, which soon progressed to drugs.
“For many years, I've lived with an active addiction, and when it came to the workplace, I didn't know how I was going to keep my job, let alone my life, at a certain point. So when I got sober, I made it my passion and mission in life to help transform workplaces into somewhere that could be a lifeline for people in recovery,” Narine said.
Narine turned his story into a bigger purpose by starting up Recovery Friendly Leader officially in 2022.
During his doctoral studies, Narine studied how managers keep their businesses safe despite facing employees facing substance issues. He learned that managers cultivated an environment where employees were told it’s OK to need help and utilize resources offered through work. So Narine took what he learned and so far has helped out more than 90 people.
“What we want to see is a world where every employee has the opportunity to thrive, to seek recovery, and the workplace just be a successful place forever. And the way we do that is by training managers how to have those difficult conversations, how to have those stigma-free, supportive conversations, how to really address if someone's having a problem appropriately with the right approach,” Narine said.
Anyone interested in supporting Recovery Friendly Leader's September fundraiser can follow this link.
