July 8, 2005
Source: Substance Abuse Funding Week

Covering Funding, Programs and News on Alcohol, Drugs, Tobacco and Co-Occurring Disorders
 

WASHINGTON: JULY 8, 2005 NO. 05-25 Page 4
Radio Show Needs Help Before Offering Some

The producers of “The Recovery Radio Show” hope it becomes a clearinghouse for people and programs needing funding for substance abuse services, but today the show is on the receiving end of requests for help.

“We kind of put the horse in front of the cart by actually putting the show together and have it up and running without having a solid base of financial support,” Stephen Groth, a partner in Worldwide Radio Network—the nonprofit organization producing the show— tells SAF.

“One of the challenges we have is to get a person who will do the actual grant writing,” adds Groth, who is vice president for medical affairs for Worldwide Radio and a co-host of its show. “We’re constrained by what we can pay right now and we’re hoping to find somebody in the recovery world who thinks the same way we do and wants to donate their services.”

Groth and his partners, each a recovering drug addict, launched the operation with their own money and have attracted some commercial sponsorship. But they’re paying most of their monthly operating costs of about $45,000 out of their own pockets.

“We’re at a point where we’re very much stretched,” Groth says. “It’s a real challenge, so we’re actively looking how to crack that nut.”

The three-hour Recovery Radio show targets an audience of active and recovering alcoholics and addicts and their friends and families with information about intervention strategies and treatment opportunities. It was launched on a Los Angeles station (KKLA-FM 99.5) in April and has since been picked up by stations in Las Vegas (KNUU-AM 970), Orlando (WORL-AM 660) and Phoenix (KFNX-AM 1100).

Groth and his partners plan by August to add a show about offering substance abuse treatment to people in the markets where it broadcasts. They are arranging with service providers in those markets to offer treatment opportunities at no cost.

Worldwide Radio so far is paying radio stations to carry its programming. It expects eventually to be paid by stations for its programming, a crucial step in changing from needing support from public and private sources to providing assistance.

“Our hope is to be successful as a charitable foundation,” Groth says.

Info: 949.334.0471
Email: drsteve@recoveryradioshow.com
www.recoveryradioshow.com