What we do with others is in the public interest. We compile glimpses of our collaboration in some version of ‘What We Do Together’, our annual video reports. The Community Conversation with TriCircle contributors, ‘Everyone Knows Someone‘ will be in our 2024 report with ten #wpaatv Alliance for Community Media Nor’Easter Festival Finalists. TriCircle, a nonprofit addiction resource organization leans into the mantra: “Together We Are Stronger”. They work together from lived experiences to provide hope & support for individuals and families encountering some part of the addiction, recovery, and sometimes loss, aspects of addiction challenges, stigma, and opportunities for success.
The Gala
TriCircle’s 6th Annual Gala was held on Sunday, November 3rd, 2024, at The Farms Country Club in Wallingford. The Fall day could have passed for Spring, as if to support the gargantuan effort of volunteers who, with hope & service achieved six years and organized a well-attended event.
There were hundreds of stories in the room. Everyone knows someone. Everyone with loss strives to remember the person, not the disease. Everyone in recovery strives to stay on the path. Everyone has stories told, and untold. It was good to be able to celebrate a few.
Several stories, including Susan’s, were anchored in how the Founder Ana Gopian entered their lives. For decades, as each year came to a close, healthcare membership cards were printed & mailed timely to thousands with their carefully choreographed service in the public interest. Ana and Susan spent the year-end holidays together sharing stories, hopes, and dreams of service over the drone of machines. They shared stories from lived experiences. Each year before the corporation appropriated most waking hours of Susan’s life, she had just finished the annual marathon of gathering toys for thousands of children visiting parents in prison as coordinator of the Prison Chaplains Toy Drive. Ana was successfully navigating a one-day-at-a-time life.
Civic Organization of the Year
Ana insisted that WPAA-TV send a representative, ideally Susan, to the Gala. Susan had already checked off consideration as a scheduling conflict. She planned to put something in the program instead. Ten am to 1 pm directly conflicts with 11 am to 3 pm when Same Day Sunday tasks must be done. Local churches transfer files produced by crews in their community to WPAA-TV. Since 2010 walk-in content has been scheduled on TV starting at 3:30 pm on the same Sunday it was recorded. Thanks to technology, what once was a 5-hour Sunday can now be completed in 2 hours. For a short time, this was a part-time job for someone in recovery, but the lack of funding turned this commitment back to volunteer hours by Susan.
An in-person visit from Ana turned into a concession. The Ana energy invite was fueled by the Gala program: WPAA > TV #MoreThanTV was to be recognized as Civic Organization of the Year.
There is little doubt that Ana’s history with Susan set the stage for this honor. As a leader of a community organization dedicated to sharing the stories of others, Susan is comfortable behind the scenes. But on Gala day, in a room full of organizations that WPAA-TV has served and can serve, Ana’s fervor and endorsement seemed perfectly okay. WPAA-TV is a positive connection to the work: Our youth team’s 988 It is Never Too Late video has been seen by thousands and is in the world to save lives. Our space hosts and records monthly Alcoholics Anonymous Special Meetings distributed to 36 Community TV Channels in CT. Produced by Central CT Intergroup anyone can find podcast versions here or any podcast platform of choice. And, the Community Conversation Every One Knows Someone (full) may be the Alliance for Community Media Nor’East General Talk Show of the Year Episode. TBD in Mystic on Monday, December 9th. Ana & Susan will be there. We will update this post with a picture in December.