Bentley, Robinson recognized in State of Commonwealth address

GOVERNOR ANDY BESHEAR recognized Brad Bentley, Tim Robinson, Addiction Recovery Care and Crown Recovery Center in his State of the Commonwealth address on Jan. 3, in Frankfort.

John Wilson Market President for Addiction Recovery Care said in a post on Facebook, “Last night Dec. 3, we were invited to attend the Governor’s State of the Commonwealth address, where Addiction Recovery Care, Tim Robinson and Crown Recovery Center were honored for the advances made in expanding drug and alcohol treatment in Kentucky, along with Brad Bentley, who was one of the first graduates from our program at Crown.

Brad spent nearly 20 years in active addiction, having dropped out of high school and working as a coal miner in Eastern Kentucky. He was homeless, and was at one point living in a chicken coop, and only sought treatment after his daughter was too scared to even be in his presence.

At Crown, Brad was our first client to obtain his GED, and he successfully tutored 12 other men to help them get their GEDs as well; all before completing our program. Today, Brad is leading a successful life in recovery, is enrolled in college, has a home, a car, a job supervising nearly 40 employees, a 401(k), and most importantly, he now has a relationship with his children and shares custody of them. I was proud to see legislators of both parties give Brad a standing ovation as the Governor told his story. It’s actions like these that are the reason Kentucky was one of the few states that saw a drop in overdose rates last year, by helping distigmatize this disease which allows more people to get help and start leading healthy lives where they can begin fulfilling their God given potential.

After the address at the Capitol, we spent time meeting with the Governor and other dignitaries at the Governor’s mansion.

I’m beyond proud to live in a place where treatment is widely available and to work for a company that is so comprehensively committed to substantively changing the landscape with respect to bringing folks from crisis to career!”