Welcome to the Council Connection, your seasonal update on the people, programs, and partnerships that move our mission forward.
This summer, we’re celebrating the Texas Health and Human Services Commission expansion of our Recovery Now outpatient program, spotlighting community impact through Friends of the Council, introducing Gloria Sotelo—a compassionate Recovery Now counselor—and inviting you to join us for our inaugural Mahjong for Meaningful Change event. Whether you give, attend, or share our story, your support helps provide life-saving services to those who need them most.
Agency Updates
Recovery Now Expansion: State Funding Doubles Access to Outpatient Care
The Council’s Recovery Now program is entering its largest chapter yet. Thanks to a significant increase in funding from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, the Council will now be able to serve twice as many clients—up to 120 individuals at any given time, the highest capacity in agency history.
Recovery Now offers trauma-informed outpatient treatment for individuals with substance use and co-occurring disorders. Participants attend individualized counseling and group therapy for 12 to 24 weeks, all delivered virtually by licensed chemical dependency counselors. Services include clinical assessments, case management, psychoeducational groups, and referrals for continued care.
To support this expansion, the program will grow its clinical team and increase the number of group sessions available. With 100% of services offered online and with increased funding from the state, Recovery Now removes key barriers like transportation, childcare, and cost—ensuring that individuals with no insurance or income still have access to life-saving treatment.
This investment also builds on recent outreach success in Arlington, where new referrals from Arlington Community Court have led to increased enrollments and successful program graduations. As the need for recovery services continues to rise, this expansion ensures more North Texans receive the compassionate care they deserve—in a space free from stigma, shame, or judgment.
Community Engagement
Friends of the Council: Powering Care Through a Compassionate Giving Community
Every day in North Texas, lives are being shaped by forces beyond most people’s control: untreated mental illness, substance use, housing instability, and generational trauma. These aren’t distant issues—they’re the daily realities our clients face when they walk through our doors.
At Recovery Resource Council, we provide a path forward. Through no-cost, trauma-informed care, we serve more than 60,000 people each year across 20 counties—meeting urgent needs through counseling, recovery programs, case management, community outreach, housing assistance, and youth prevention services.
But the work doesn’t happen on its own. It’s powered by a community of supporters who choose to stand with us.
Friends of the Council is a community of monthly and annual supporters who believe in access to care, dignity, and healing. With a pledge of just $25 a month or $300 a year, you help ensure our programs remain strong, responsive, and available to neighbors who need them most.
Your gift can help provide:
• Meals for at-risk youth participating in our health and wellness camps.
• Recovery support services for clients navigating sobriety post treatment.
• Counseling sessions for teens struggling with mental health issues.
• Comprehensive case management for formerly unhoused clients.
• Psychotherapy for veterans and their family members.
When you become a Friend of the Council, you become part of every story of resilience and recovery—like Carl’s. After multiple overdoses, Carl connected with Dan, a Recovery Support Peer Specialist at the Council, who helped him enter treatment and rebuild his life. Today, Carl is employed, active in his church, and still in recovery.
“I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. If it wasn’t for Dan and Recovery Resource Council, my life wouldn’t be as good as it is now,” Carl said.
If you’re ready to be part of a compassionate, engaged community that creates lasting change, becoming a Friend of the Council is a powerful place to start. Click below to sign up online, download the enrollment form, or give us a call. However you give, your support will go straight to the frontlines of recovery—helping more North Texans heal, rebuild, and thrive.
Staff Spotlight
Meet Gloria Sotelo: From Recovery to Counselor, Leading by Example
After 14 years in recovery and a complete life transformation, Gloria Sotelo now serves as a leading counselor in the Council’s Recovery Now outpatient program. Every day, she offers her clients not just clinical expertise, but a lived understanding of what it means to survive, rebuild, and thrive.
Gloria’s path to counseling didn’t begin in a classroom—it began with her own experience of addiction. “I drank for thirty years,” she shares. “It started when I was twenty and my parents were getting divorced. I wanted relief from the depression. I knew it was a bad idea, but I tried it anyway, thinking I wouldn’t get hooked.” Just two months after she got sober, Gloria suffered two strokes—back-to-back, on both sides of her brain. She spent the next five years in a nursing home and then assisted living.
At age 54, she decided to start over. “I didn’t know if I had any brain cells left between drinking for 30 years and having two strokes,” she says. But she enrolled at Tarrant County College, earned her certificate in Chemical Dependency Counseling, and graduated summa cum laude. “It’s amazing what you can do with renewed hope and sobriety.”
Today, as a licensed chemical dependency counselor, Gloria leads group and individual sessions for Recovery Now clients using the evidence-based Seeking Safety curriculum. She helps individuals navigate treatment plans, learn safe coping skills, and reconnect with a sense of purpose—often working with court-referred clients from probation, Department of Family and Protective Services, and Veterans Treatment Court.
“Seeing a person find hope again after surviving the setbacks of addiction is priceless,” she says. “Helping a client regain their power and light again—that’s what makes this job so rewarding.”
Gloria’s work is a reflection of the Council’s mission in action: compassionate, evidence-based care that meets people where they are. “My goal is to empower each client to begin their recovery journey with hope for a better future,” she says. “And I’m so blessed and grateful to be able to do what I love at my job here at Recovery Resource Council.”
Supporting Our Mission
Mahjong for Meaningful Change: Turning Play into Progress, One Tile at a Time
Join us for Recovery Resource Council’s inaugural Mahjong for Meaningful Change event—an exciting morning of tiles, tradition, and purposeful play to advance meaningful change across North Texas.
A centuries-old game, Mahjong is known for bringing people together to connect, compete, and build community. Whether you’re a seasoned player or new to the game, you’re sure to enjoy a fun and engaging experience for a meaningful cause.
Guests will enjoy a light lunch, exciting raffle prizes, and open Mahjong play, all in support of RRC’s life-saving wellness and recovery services. Together, we’re turning play into progress, one tile at a time—to provide hope, conquer addiction, and heal families.
Date: Saturday, September 13, 2025
Time: 10:30am-1:30pm
Location: Edison’s Dallas – 1724 Cockrell Ave, Dallas, TX 75215
Reserve Tickets & Become a Sponsor!
Sponsors are a vital part of our RRC family, helping us provide care and hope to the veterans, individuals experiencing homelessness, youth, and families we serve.
Individual tickets are $150 and sponsorships begin at $600. New to the game? A limited number of beginner spots are available—come learn, play, and be part of an impactful event.
Let’s create meaningful change in our community, one tile at a time.
The Council’s Enduring Families program has a new recruit, and he’s got four paws and a wagging tail! Bronson, our therapy dog in training, is already making an impact—when veterans and their families walk through the door, the first thing they ask is, “Where’s Bronson?” Hearing his name, he eagerly greets them, offering warmth and connection from the start.
Our Enduring Families program provides free free individual, couples/marriage, and family psychotherapy for veterans and their family members, as well as child-centered play therapy for children ages 4 and older. Research shows that animal assisted therapy can lower stress, improve symptoms of PTSD, and foster emotional resilience—all crucial for mental health, recovery, and wellness. Even in training, Bronson is already bringing comfort, connection, and a little extra joy to those who have served.
Sponsors play a vital role in our RRC family, enabling us to continue our mission of improving and saving lives. Table sponsorships begin at $1,500, and individual tickets are available for $250 in limited quantities. Each sponsorship level offers unique benefits, and we encourage you to secure your sponsorship by April 18, 2025, to receive full advantages.
