Community Workgroup Co-Lead
Amy Braden serves as a co-facilitator for the RCORP Community Workgroup. She is working to find ways to expand Safety-Net for people in treatment and recovery, including several areas of focus that could increase access to medication assistant treatment. Amy is researching models that have made positive impacts addressing Safety-Net expansion and the opioid epidemic in other states and strategically moving forward to identify which may best serve Tennessee.
Amy Braden is a Peer Recovery & Community Coordinator and a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist. She assists the Chief Clinical Officer and Regional Clinical Directors in overseeing the scope of work for Peer Recovery Specialists. She oversees the recovery support efforts for all seven sites while also collaborating with ReVIDA Recovery Director of Corporate and Community Development on potential community engagement opportunities that highlight comprehensive services that benefit Peer Support Specialists. She is from the rural area of Claiborne County and moved to Knoxville several years ago. She sought treatment in Knox County because the needed resources were not available in her hometown. She became involved in the recovery community and continues to be actively involved. She is a strong advocate for medication assisted treatment and harm reduction initiatives with respect to all pathways to recovery. Her role is to foster supportive peer relationships with individuals enrolled in behavioral health and medication assisted treatment services and to meet peers where they are; while instilling hope by sharing her personal experience with recovery. She coordinates with the communities to work together to better educate and serve patients as well as the communities in which they reside. Amy Braden provides recovery support services and education for patients, staff, team members, and family members; including support groups, training and education. She collaborated with community organizations to provide onsite education for harm reduction, Narcan training, communicable disease education, including HIV and Hepatitis, PREP, PEP, prevention, and linkage to treatment providers while also providing resources to overcome barriers that complicate treatment within our Knoxville Communities. She fights stigma by educating communities about the disease of addiction. She has been a core volunteer for two years at International Overdose Awareness in Knoxville. She is the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services “Face of Opioids” for Claiborne County and a community educator for DEA 360.