CINCINNATI — From far away, it may just look like a regular RV, but as you get closer, you'll find a team of recovery advocates along the way.
The teal-colored van is the studio for the podcast "On the Road of Recovery," founded by Erin Helms, director of Cleveland-area recovery house The Briermost Foundation.
Helms is in active recovery herself and uses her podcast as a vessel to share how other people in the state of Ohio have overcome addiction.
"Genuinely, as long as you have a breath, you have a chance of recovery," Helms said.
Watch to learn more about how a traveling podcast is highlighting recovery:
I first came across the podcast while researching how the community is finding solutions to substance abuse, following WCPO 9's community conversation in April.
The podcast began in 2021 and is now producing its fifth season, according to its website. Helms told me that being able to travel across the state and hear different stories shows just how unique every recovery journey can be.
"The amazing lives that people have, and their recovery program may be totally different than mine, but it's that process of change," Helms said.
Helms said that so far, the podcast has released more than 200 episodes, which can be found on YouTube.
Before she and I spoke, she recorded an episode with Cincinnati resident Jack Stem, who shared his own journey of active recovery.
"The key for me was finally admitting that I couldn't do this by myself," Stem said.
Helms said that addressing recovery is a way to stop the stigma of a topic kept quiet for decades.
"Because of the anonymous factor of 12-step programs, and the stigma related to substance use disorder, a lot of the world doesn't know that, how people's lives change," Helms said.
She told me the one thing she wants people to take away from the podcast is "that there's hope."
You can find more information on episodes of the podcast and applications to be featured in a video on their Facebook page.
