Bridging the Gaps: Reimagining Opioid Recovery
A podcast where we confront disparities, challenge outdated approaches, and reimagine a future where opioid addiction treatment is equitable, accessible, and effective for all communities."
Bridging the Gaps: Reimagining Opioid Recovery
Rondo Resilience: Healing Through Community
We journey to St. Paul's historic Rondo community, exploring resilience, healing, and hope through conversations with residents at the 825 Arts Community Barbecue.
• Rondo was once a thriving, tight-knit, middle-class Black community until Interstate 94 construction in the 1950s-60s demolished over 700 homes and 300 businesses
• Despite this systemic destruction, the community continues organizing, fighting, and reconnecting
• Young adults describe recovery as having a supportive community of people who look like them and can provide accountability
• Residents express concern about the lack of mental health resources available to Black community members
• Multiple interviewees emphasize that recovery means peace, harmony, and the ability to gather without outside interference
• The founder of Rondo Double Dutch shares how the simple activity creates magic by bringing together people experiencing hardships with children and community members
• Young people offer wisdom about confidence, singing, dancing, and believing in oneself
• Recovery extends beyond substance use to include reclaiming stolen histories, homes, and hopes
• Community gathering, storytelling, and collective joy emerge as powerful medicine and acts of resistance
Visit the links in the description to learn more about the Rondo community and their ongoing efforts to reconnect and rebuild.
#RondoResilience
#BlackHistoryMatters
#CommunityHealing
#HistoricRondo
#MentalHealthEquity
#HealingThroughStorytelling
#CulturalRecovery
#ReclaimOurRoots
#BlackJoyIsResistance
#RondoDoubleDutch
#CollectiveHealing
#ArtsAndHealing
#RacialJusticeMN
#RebuildRondo
Welcome to this bonus episode of Bridging the Gaps, reimagining Opioid Recovery. Today we're taking a walk through memory, healing and hope, right here in the heart of St Paul's historic Rondo community. I was invited to the 825 Arts Community Barbecue, led by Ms Mercedes Yarborough, celebrating the activation of love in the Rondo community. Rondo was once a thriving, tight-knit, middle-class Black community where 80% of St Paul's Black residents lived until the 1950s. There were thriving businesses, houses of worship, social clubs, community centers made up of Midwestern Black families and those arriving through the Great Migration. Imagine all of this that was uprooted by the construction of Interstate 94 in the late 50s and 60s. There were over 700 family homes and over 300 businesses torn down through eminent domain, which is where the government claims private property per public use, even if the owner refuses to sell, and split Rondo community in half. Those effects are still being felt today, including the widening of the home ownership wealth gap. This has not stopped Rondo from organizing, fighting and reconnecting. Reconnect Rondo is an effort to create a land bridge or cap over the freeway from Chatsworth Street and Grotto Street. This would restore land physically, reconnect the community and create new housing, jobs, businesses and increase the city's revenue. But like so many of our stories, what was broken didn't disappear. It's transforming. This episode is about honoring resilience and listening to the wisdom of residents who've lived through the destruction and transformation. In this bonus episode, we'll hear reflections on recovery from Rondo residents. Let's begin Driving.
Speaker 1:I was frazzled to say the least. Quite literally. My garage door broke on my way to getting the kids to their appointments and right after we had to head straight to Rondo. I arrived pretty much in my head, worried about how much it was going to cost to fix the door. My girls and I arrived and then all of a sudden we were greeted by a wall of sound, music, laughter, movement, food contentment. I had to take a deep, calming breath and get out of my head. Be here. I saw my daughters relax, eat, learn double Dutch and see the community at ease in this space. I ate.
Speaker 1:I debated how I would approach people to interview and then I got really nervous. Is talking about recovery okay in this space? This event is really about amplifying love. I seriously low-key, panicked In my head, of course. Then I started walking around. I started listening to little bits of conversation, listening to the music, tuning into the laughter, watching the children run around. Yeah, I know I'm a professional, yet I still get nervous too.
Speaker 1:As things settled into a rhythm, though, I jumped in and introduced myself to a group of young adults. I asked for their permission to ask a question about recovery, and I got their consent to record anonymously for the podcast episode, and that started me off. It was really inspiring to hear the different perspectives and really understand their thoughts on recovery. As a therapist, I have a very different understanding of recovery. It's a more pragmatic, treatment-based approach that mixes harm reduction. It does a little sprinkle of AA, I do a little sprinkle of case management and then I do a whole lot of trauma-informed, person-centered care. Yet being in that space was a really humbling experience to hear from young adults, elders and children of the Rondo community Enjoy Testing. It is still, but I figured let's try it and if it doesn't work, okay. So whoever wants to take the mic, but just answering like what could recovery look like in our community? You don't need to say your name or age or anything, just be anonymous.
Speaker 2:I feel like recovery looks like community in a way.
Speaker 1:I feel like having a support system around you people who look like you can be really helpful and just having like that type of resources and people to like fall back on and hold yourself accountable, um, but yeah I, yeah, so I actually hosted a community discussion on monday with the little earth um indigenous tribe in south minneapolis and that was one of the things that they were talking about was like family made a huge difference to them and then all of a sudden, the more they involve family in their recovery journey, the stronger it became for them. And then also connecting to cultural practices. So being able to smudge right, do seating and stuff like that and finding culturally appropriate care was really important for them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I just feel like I don't know, know, sometimes I know some people don't have like a family support system, so I think community can be really helpful for that as well. But also, um, the idea of like educating, educating other people about, like, what recovery looks like and that substance abuse um I guess like doesn't take away from the person necessarily, would be really helpful. Yeah, cool, yeah.
Speaker 4:Ditto Okay, thank you I appreciate your time.
Speaker 1:Just want to ask you what does recovery mean to you?
Speaker 3:What could it look like for the black community? I don't think there's too much that black people can go to, as far as whatever they're going through emotionally, mentally Because I need one, and it's just like to find someone that you can confide in. It's hard for our community. It's like they don't care. They just don't care. I live in this area all my life and to see how much it changed, yeah.
Speaker 1:And so that's the idea behind the podcast is that we're actually having this conversation in community, and so we invite people with lived experiences, experts, community leaders and to like say the hard thing out loud talk about it.
Speaker 3:It is because I mean a lot of people that I grew up in the neighborhood of and went to school and never friends, literally are strung out now to where sometimes I don't even know who they are, and it's sad to see that. It's sad, and it's that's to see you all. It's sad and it's sad to see you all. I know that's awesome. Well, I think it's just that like to live over here and see all this, to see people sleeping and there's no one to help them. Just where do they go? So, yeah, this is how they want, like me. So she's sad, she's sad, she's sad well, thank you.
Speaker 1:I appreciate you taking the minute to share.
Speaker 5:Thank you, yeah, and you know I am a firm believer in, like the holistic approach where we don't, we don't. How should I answer this? We meet them where they're at. We don't, we don't. How should I answer this? We meet them where they're at, we don't judge, and we work on the healing but also the dreaming aspect of it. So you know everyone who's recovering, you know, hey, no judge, no judging whatsoever. We heal, we work on the healing procedures of it and practices. We stay consistent with the relationship piece of it and we help them understand that they are a value within themselves and within the community that they're in. So we help them with that. And then we work on the dreaming aspect, the imagination, like acting like like being a kid again. What are your aspirations, what are your dreams? And then we work towards that, you know. So those are some of the things that I think we should do, especially in the black community and in all communities, you know.
Speaker 4:Yeah, thank you. That's it. I appreciate it. That's all Nice and easy.
Speaker 1:That's actually a good question I've been trying to capture. I just want the community to be heard on what they want. What they want to see Right, and so that's what we do on the podcast is we bring in people with lived experiences, we're bringing experts, we bring in community leaders and we sit down and just talk about it together.
Speaker 5:Most, definitely I'm game Cool, all right, sis.
Speaker 7:I'll holler game cool. All right, sis, I'll let you later. Thank you, um.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I only got a couple words, okay, um ask me the question what does recovery look like to you, or what could that look like in the black community?
Speaker 7:uh, recovery to me looks like peace, it looks like harmony and it looks like um togetherness. It looks looks like us, as a Black community, can actually have peaceful outings without any involvement from the police or people. That's not from the community, looking at it as something that seems out of the normal and looks like it's out of the normal and not you know. It looks like it's out of place and willing to disrupt that piece that we have. But for the most part that's what it looks like.
Speaker 1:Awesome, thank you, that's it. Just wanting to ask what could recovery look like to you in our black community? What, what?
Speaker 4:Recovery. Um, um, this we're at 825 arts. The theme is love and just activating. Love is healing. Love is really healing. Like you see the joy and smiles. Um, I'm the visionary behind rondo, double dutch. I seen magic happen. We go to daly university where they're experiencing hardships with um addiction, alcohol, homelessness and we'll be there with kids and the people from the train, wendy's. They come and jump with us. So we're showing the world that we can be together and the magic of just love and seeing each other and giving an opportunity to spark change. I love it, thank you.
Speaker 6:Well, what you can look for us is that we can be confident and we can show how we can sing, we can do our dances, and I think that when I was singing, I felt really confident. Even though I kind of feel scared, I went with it and I felt good in my body and I think that every single black person and white person should be confident about themselves and I think that don't be scared to sing, because that's going to make you feel sad, because you're going to feel like you can't sing. You're going to be scared. Don't don't think that you can sing and believe it in your body. You can always sing and dance and you can do talent things and everything Awesome.
Speaker 4:Thank you, do not forget that. Thank you, I appreciate it, you're welcome.
Speaker 1:Okay, what does recovery look?
Speaker 2:like for you Recovery, getting better from something. Get better. It looks like getting better. Yes, seeing a doctor. Uh yes, seeing a doctor. Uh-huh Seeing a doctor. What about you? Loving God, loving.
Speaker 3:God.
Speaker 6:Loving God. What about you Loving Jesus too?
Speaker 2:Everybody has to be a star. Okay, nice, thank you.
Speaker 1:Okay, so what does that look like, especially for?
Speaker 4:us Black and Brown folks Like say this is his.
Speaker 2:I took this and then I gave it back to him. Okay, what about you? Uh, that's your cover, right? Yeah, cover, like If you were to cover something you need to, you can get something back.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so then what if it was like drugs or alcohol? How do they get?
Speaker 2:better.
Speaker 6:Okay.
Speaker 1:Well, that's what we're learning about. Do you want to answer? How do people recover from drugs and alcohol?
Speaker 6:That's a hard question.
Speaker 1:And that's what we're working on every day with the podcast, and I'm a therapist and I work with people who are getting better. Yeah, what do you think about that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, what do you think about that? Being a therapist, in my opinion, is being really cool, because you're helping a lot of people, but I thought if you can recover from alcohol, in my opinion you should just stay in your house and try to eat better.
Speaker 6:Yeah nice work? Yeah, I would. I would stay the same with him, like being a therapist, good and all, like you know, helping people, other problems.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, that's good, nice, yeah, nice work. That's it. Thank you for your time. You want to get the picture?
Speaker 1:so I am a host of a podcast and we talk about recovery in our community, which specifically focus on black, east african and indigenous. And just what does recovery mean to you?
Speaker 3:recovery, yeah, trying to. Trying to try not to mess up, doing the right thing, cool. Trying not to die, yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Yeah, any other thoughts you want to share? I'm a therapist and so I do work in community around substance use, and that's why I'm just trying to get the word out there for us in community to talk about it differently.
Speaker 3:I think it's like it's stuff like because I'm homeless, I sign for a living. So I see the signs. It says don't give up if you're homeless. It says go to the website, write solution. But there's no solution. Because if you are going to do a drug, you know in Canada they give people heroin. Here they give us Suboxone to check it out, but that doesn't work. I don't think we should give people heroin. Yeah, it's tough, it is yeah.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Yeah, it's tough. It is, yeah, awesome. That's it. Thanks for your time. I appreciate it. Um, so, I'm a host of a podcast that talks about substance use for black, east african and indigenous communities, so just wanted to get your perspective on what recovery means to you.
Speaker 8:Recovery, yeah. So what recovery means to me, concerning either people getting off of it, right? Yeah, to me it means like not only support in getting over the physical addiction, but also maintaining some kind of structure when it comes to getting their mental health back in there and sustaining that. So it's just kind of like, all right, physically you may not be addicted anymore, but it's the mental part that leads back to your physical addiction. And then, uh, what are those things that that trigger the addiction anyway? Uh, the desperateness, the you know, the hopelessness, the need to get away, and like, how do we uh fill the gaps in in those areas where it's like people not working or not having hope or not having things like that, and like leaning to drugs? Sweetie, I miss you. Hey, sorry, girl.
Speaker 1:I hope you enjoyed listening to their perspectives. Packing up to leave my head was full. I stood witness to these many interviews and saw how honest, intentional and wonderful each of these little discussions were. As I drove away, my kids chatting about learning double Dutch, how at first they were a little intimidated by it, but as they practiced it got more fun and exciting. It left me thinking about our neighborhood that we live in and how we don't, as a Black family, have this level of connection. Yet as I started feeling sad, I realized that overall I was feeling pretty happy. In my chest I felt warm, and then I realized that was hope. Each conversation left me feeling hopeful. Despite the community being torn in two, they're still coming together. They still show up to share a meal, dance, jump rope, encourage kids to play, Everyone watches over one of the littles together and they share their lives.
Speaker 1:Spending time in Ronda was more than interviews. It really was an immersion into the sacred legacy of resilience and hope in this Black community. I sat with elders whose eyes held both sorrow and deep, fierce pride. I listened to voices steep with memory and voices steady with that vision, and what I heard again and again was this we're still here.
Speaker 1:Recovery isn't just about substance use. It's about reclaiming what was stolen homes, histories, hopes and learning to trust that healing is possible, even when it feels like the odds are stacked against us. I was reminded that community is medicine, that storytelling is an act of resistance and that no system, no freeway, no policy can erase a people determined to love. If you're listening and you're in your own process of recovery, whatever that looks like for you, know this You're not alone. Your story matters and, like Rondo, you can rebuild. There is power in remembering, there is purpose in reimagining and, above all, there is hope. If you'd like to learn more about the Rondo community, please visit the links in the description of the episode. Thank you to the residents of Rondo, who welcomed us with open hearts. Thank you for your stories, your truth and your beauty. If today's episode moved, you share it. Keep the conversation going Until next time. I'm Joanna Rosa and this is Bridging the Gaps. Stay hopeful.
