Marty Grizzle, Peer Recovery Specialist, Honored with Recovery Achievement Award

Marty Grizzle, currently a Recovery Aide at Mount Rogers Community Services, has been awarded a state-wide award for his contributions to the Peer Recovery field.

Marty received the Recovery Achievement Award from the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services’ Office of Recovery Services. Marty received this award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to advocacy, reducing stigma, and contributing to the workforce of Virginia’s Peer Recovery community. “It made me feel like I’ve made a contribution to the peer workforce that has been recognized across the state,” he says.

Marty has been with Mount Rogers for 16 years as a Peer Recovery Specialist and most recently as a Recovery Aide, but it’s his experiences before Mount Rogers that shapes his ability to help others. “I was almost murdered, been kidnapped, been carjacked, been homeless, lived in a car, lived in a friend’s house for two years, lost everything I had, gone to jail. That was because of alcohol, I drank really heavily until my late 30s,” he says.

During a psychiatric hospitalization, someone noticed Marty’s gift for helping others. “One of the clinicians said to me, ‘Marty, the other individuals are really receptive to all the things you’ve been through and you’re still here.’ At that time I wasn’t even a peer, I was another patient. That’s the first time I heard about peer work,” he says.

Marty didn’t start his career as a peer immediately, but the seed was planted. As he continued on his own recovery journey, others noticed his ability to connect with others. “I started having mental health issues and depression again. I came to Mount Rogers as a patient, and the same thing happened here where I was talking to the other patients.”

When Mount Rogers started hiring for Peer Recovery positions, a clinician Marty had worked with as a patient reached out. He started his peer journey in 2008, and remembers being only the second peer to work at Mount Rogers. Since then, Peer Recovery Specialists and their role has exploded at Mount Rogers and across the state. Marty says, “It’s grown really big. Virginia is really pushing it because they see how successful it is. There are 10,000 of us in Virginia and we need more.”

Marty has contributed to that growth through hosting trainings for peers, sitting on various boards and committees across the state, and advocating for both the individuals he serves and the peer profession. He is particularly proud of the three current peers he worked with as individuals, who are now his coworkers as Peer Recovery Specialists.

It has been a tremendously rewarding journey. Marty relishes the opportunity to share his own recovery to help others achieve their own. “This job keeps me accountable still to this day. I see people who are just stuck, and I can say, ‘I’ve been there before.’”

Marty plans to display his award proudly in his home, and continue serving others every day by sharing his experiences.