The deadline for Colorado artists to submit designs for the Colorado Behavioral Health Administration’s (BHA) recovery and mental health commemorative cards series closed on Feb. 26. The project, created in partnership with the Lift The Label public awareness campaign, utilizes the talents of Colorado-based artists to celebrate recovery efforts for those living with mental health struggles and substance use disorders.
The Recovery Card Project was created over five years ago and more than 150,000 cards have since been distributed. According to Shadia Lemus, BHA marketing supervisor, the project garnered great interest this year, on par with 2023, with 61 artists answering the call to submit work, some of whom were first-time submitters, which Lemus said demonstrates a growing interest in spotlighting the importance of mental health and substance use disorder recovery.
“We basically set up these cards where people can either take them home or use them for personal use if they have someone to give them to. We’re in the process of distributing them statewide to individuals who could use those words of encouragement,” Lemus stated.
One of the artists contributing to this project is multimedia Denver local creative Madison Magor. She initially became involved when she ordered one of these cards for her friend who needed support. She now creates these cards in English and Spanish to extend the project’s reach.
“I wasn’t sure what the best way to open up the conversation between us was,” Magor said about sending a card to her friend. “I figured I could write them a card to help remind them how much I love and support them. I thought the project was an incredible resource for Coloradans.”
She continued, “I think this project is a huge tool that can be used by people to break the stigma around having tough conversations with our loved ones about substance use, mental health or really any other topic they may be struggling with.”
Magor has been a creative person her whole life and began publicly sharing her art about six years ago. She is a member of We Are CommUNITY, a Denver-based grassroots project with the mission to empower individuals experiencing homelessness through collaboration, advocacy and compassionate care. “We offer direct care services to those who need them most,” she said. “We hope to spread compassion through commUNITY.”
A common thread in the work she submits for this project, which she has been contributing to since 2021, is encouraging people to “keep going” with themes of animals and nature. Magor has faced her own struggles and triumphs with addiction and finds solace in this project, seeing it as a way to build trust between individuals and break stigmas around mental health and addiction through the lens of community as opposed to only encouraging clinical treatment.
“I think in the past, many themes around mental health have been to get treatment, and then you’ll start to feel better. I think that’s really diluting the actual experience of going through highs and lows all the time. I like to remind people that even through hard times there will be light and joy,” Magor said. “In my experience of giving a card to somebody, it helped create more trust between us to have conversations about substance use and mental health without judgment.”
Discussing how Coloradans can continue to support recovery efforts beyond this project, Magor encouraged our readers to educate themselves on the guiding principles of harm reduction and to show kindness and empathy to those living with substance use disorders.
“Disorders can look very different for everyone, but offering a smile to someone who may have been having a hard day, or not using stigma-based terms to describe people who use drugs, are both ways to be supportive. You can always offer a listening ear to someone who may be struggling without judgment and without giving advice,” Magor stated.
To order free recovery cards and learn more about the project, visit www.recoverycardsproject.com
