Trail of Truth Welcomes Core Advisors Gretchen Burns Bergman and Kathleen A. Cochran
Kathleen A. Cochran (Left) and Gretchen Burns Bergman (Right) have been hard at work planning the first ever National Trail of Truth
Trail of Truth is proud to announce our collaboration with activists Gretchen Burns Bergman (A New PATH) and Kathleen A. Cochran (Moms for All Paths to Recovery).
A New PATH works to reduce the stigma associated with addictive illness through education and compassionate support and to advocate for therapeutic rather than punitive drug policies.
Gretchen Burns Bergman is Executive Director and Co-Founder of A New PATH (Parents for Addiction Treatment & Healing), a non-profit organization that works to reduce the stigma associated with addictive illness through education and compassionate support and to advocate for therapeutic rather than punitive drug policies. She served as State Chairperson for Proposition 36 in 2000, which mandates treatment instead of incarceration for non-violent drug offenders in California, and she was one of the three signers of Prop 64 in 2016 to regulate and legalize marijuana. She is leading the international Moms United to End the War on Drugs campaign that was started in 2009.
“As a parent, I know first-hand how pointless and dangerous it is to throw a drug-sick individual in prison, where he is treated like human storage, rather than giving him the services to recover, make amends and heal wounds inflicted while living in the nightmare of addiction, and be able to give back to society.”
She is Owner/Director of Gretchen Productions, a Fashion Show Production Company, started in 1979. Her articles on treatment vs. incarceration have been published nationwide, and she has spoken before countless audiences on the topic of therapeutic justice for individuals with substance use disorders and harm reduction strategies. She has two grown sons who are in long-term recovery from heroin addiction.
Moms for All Paths to Recovery (MAP) is a group for moms who have children that have or are experiencing issues due to alcohol or drug use. They also have advocates, harm reductionists and experts in the field of addiction in their camp.
Mothers often feel powerless to act on behalf of their own, and their family and children’s, best-interests. But we know the antidote to powerlessness: KNOWLEDGE. That’s why this is not a support group. It is a hub for information and resources that are relevant to our member audience, based on science and driven by data. They encourage you to engage with their community by posting relevant information: Trusted news reports, scientific articles and any other information that would be helpful to our members in navigating this long and winding road.
As we all know- there are many paths.