A TRADITION OF HEALING AND HOPE
The Betty Ford Center’s Awareness Hour represents a long legacy of celebrating recovery, wisdom and strength, and educating the public. The Saturday morning sessions share the hope of addiction recovery through perspectives and voices that open the way to new insights, understanding and healing. Cutting edge information and inspiration make the Awareness Hour a can't-miss event for friends, family, fellow travelers, community members and, in some cases, a national online audience.

This free public lecture series began in 1976 and is held at the Annenberg Center for Health Sciences at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif. See the 2017 schedule at https://www.hazelden.org/web/public/event.view?eventId=5654135.

Betty Ford Center's Awareness Hour (since 1976)

Los Angeles Dodger great Maury Wills spoke for the Betty Ford Center's popular "Alcohol & Other Drugs Awareness Hour" on Jan. 21, 2012, at the Annenberg Center for Health Sciences at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

Maury Wills - Stealing Back My Life: One Step at a Time

Ron Magers, award-winning TV news anchor in Minneapolis and then Chicago, spoke April 23, 1983, for the Johnson Institute's Alcohol Awareness Hour in Minnesota.

Ron Magers - An Eyewitness View of Intervention

Susan Ford Bales, Mary Bono and Jerry Moe spoke for the Betty Ford Center's popular "Awareness Hour" on Jan. 14, 2017, at the Annenberg Center for Health Sciences at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif., with William Moyers moderating.

Susan Ford Bales, the daughter of former First Lady Betty Ford, is an author, photojournalist and member of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation's Board of Trustees. The Honorable Mary Bono is a former United States Congresswoman from California and a principal at FaegreBD Consulting. Jerry Moe is the national director of Children's Programs at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. And William Moyers is the Vice President of Public Affairs and Community Relations at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation.

This is Part 1 in a two-part podcast.

Susan Ford Bales, Mary Bono, Jerry Moe - "Healing the Hurt: Families, Addiction & Recovery"

Multi-talented musician, writer and speaker Dessa interviews Hazelden Publishing authors Gayarthri Ramprasad and Jennifer Matesa at “A Celebration of Women in Recovery,” held Oct. 9, 2014, at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, Minn. The event was hosted by KARE 11's Jana Shortal and presented by the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and Healthy States (an initiative of Minnesota Public Radio). 

Matesa is the author of “The Recovering Body: Physical and Spiritual Fitness for Living Clean and Sober,” and Ramprasad is the author of "Shadows in the Sun: Healing From Depression and Finding the Light Within."

A Celebration of Women in Recovery

Tori Utley of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation's professional
education solutions division spoke with Minnesota News Network about a new webinar series about addiction, recovery and the criminal justice system. These MNN newscasts air hourly on several stations throughout the state. 

Learn more about the series: https://www.hazeldenbettyford.org/about-us/news-media/press-release/minnesota-justice-system-event

Addiction, Recovery and the Minnesota Justice System

In 1978, retired CBS radio legend Del Sharbutt put together a special “once-a-year” program in Rancho Mirage, CA, featuring great jazz musicians, many of whom had decided to stop drinking. In 1981, it became associated with the Alcohol Awareness Hour at Eisenhower Medical Center and known as Jazz Without Booze. A year later, the Awareness Hour and Jazz Without Booze were both adopted by the new, neighboring Betty Ford Center. 

For several years, the event--which featured some of the world's best jazz musicians--took place on a single Saturday evening, after an Awareness Hour lecture earlier in the day. Sellouts usually happened within a day, so the event was extended to Saturday and Sunday starting in 1987. Jazz Without Booze enjoyed a 17-year run--celebrating recovery, helping reduce stigma associated with addiction, and raising money for the Betty Ford Center and its Awareness Hour.  “We wanted to let everybody know that you didn’t have to drink to have fun,” Mr. Sharbutt wrote in a 1995 event program. 

This Jazz Without Booze performance was recorded on Feb. 20, 1994. (Part 2 of 2)

Read more about the Awareness Hour and Jazz Without Booze: https://hazeldenbettyford.medium.com/before-the-ted-talk-there-was-the-awareness-hour-eb5700d8e0c4

"Jazz Without Booze " - A Betty Ford Center Awareness Hour Special Event (Part 2)

In 1978, retired CBS radio legend Del Sharbutt put together a special “once-a-year” program in Rancho Mirage, CA, featuring great jazz musicians, many of whom had decided to stop drinking. In 1981, it became associated with the Alcohol Awareness Hour at Eisenhower Medical Center and known as Jazz Without Booze. A year later, the Awareness Hour and Jazz Without Booze were both adopted by the new, neighboring Betty Ford Center. 

For several years, the event--which featured some of the world's best jazz musicians--took place on a single Saturday evening, after an Awareness Hour lecture earlier in the day. Sellouts usually happened within a day, so the event was extended to Saturday and Sunday starting in 1987. Jazz Without Booze enjoyed a 17-year run--celebrating recovery, helping reduce stigma associated with addiction, and raising money for the Betty Ford Center and its Awareness Hour.  “We wanted to let everybody know that you didn’t have to drink to have fun,” Mr. Sharbutt wrote in a 1995 event program. 

This Jazz Without Booze performance was recorded on Feb. 20, 1994. (Part 1 of 2)

Read more about the Awareness Hour and Jazz Without Booze: https://hazeldenbettyford.medium.com/before-the-ted-talk-there-was-the-awareness-hour-eb5700d8e0c4

"Jazz Without Booze " - A Betty Ford Center Awareness Hour Special Event (Part 1)

Words and music by Doug D -- inspired by his experience with a group of peers in an outpatient recovery group facilitated by Suzy Oswald at Hazelden Betty Ford in St. Paul.

Making Some History

Struggling with understanding one’s sexual identity at a younger age can be difficult. Adding alcohol or drugs to the mix can make things even more challenging. In fact, a survey found individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community are more likely to misuse substances at a younger age.
 
Evan Hall knows full well the struggles. He came from New York to get treatment in Minnesota a few years ago. Now a patient care technician at Hazelden Betty Ford in Plymouth (www.hazeldenbettyford.org/locations/plymouth), Evan is helping teens and young adults facing similar challenges. He recently spoke with Minnesota News Network.

Addiction and Recovery for the LGBTQIA+ Community

Dessa's interview with author Jennifer Matesa, part of "A Celebration of Women & Recovery" on October 9, 2014 at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul. Presented by Healthy States & Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. More at healthystates.org

Dessa Interviews Jennifer Matesa

Dessa's interview with author Gayathri Ramprasad, part of "A Celebration of Women & Recovery" on October 9, 2014 at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul. Presented by Healthy States & Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. More at healthystates.org

Dessa Interviews Gayathri Ramprasad

Los Angeles Dodger great Maury Wills spoke for the Betty Ford Center's popular "Alcohol & Other Drugs Awareness Hour" on Jan. 21, 2012, at the Annenberg Center for Health Sciences at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif. This is Part 1 of a two-part talk.

Maury Wills - "Stealing Back My Life: One Step at a Time" (Part 1)

Los Angeles Dodger great Maury Wills spoke for the Betty Ford Center's popular "Alcohol & Other Drugs Awareness Hour" on Jan. 21, 2012, at the Annenberg Center for Health Sciences at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif. This is Part 2 in a two-part podcast.

Maury Wills - "Stealing Back My Life: One Step at a Time" (Part 2)

Ron Magers, award-winning TV news anchor in Minneapolis and then Chicago, spoke April 23, 1983, for the Johnson Institute's Alcohol Awareness Hour in Minnesota. This podcast is Part 1 of 2.

Ron Magers - An Eyewitness View of Intervention (Part 1)

Ron Magers, award-winning TV news anchor in Minneapolis and then Chicago, spoke April 23, 1983, for the Johnson Institute's Alcohol Awareness Hour in Minnesota. This podcast is Part 2 of 2 and includes several audience questions on interesting topics like stigma and anonymity.

Ron Magers - An Eyewitness View of Intervention (Part 2)

Susan Ford Bales, Mary Bono and Jerry Moe spoke for the Betty Ford Center's popular "Awareness Hour" on Jan. 14, 2017, at the Annenberg Center for Health Sciences at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif., with William Moyers moderating. 

Susan Ford Bales, the daughter of former First Lady Betty Ford, is an author, photojournalist and member of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation's Board of Trustees. The Honorable Mary Bono is a former United States Congresswoman from California and a principal at FaegreBD Consulting. Jerry Moe is the national director of Children's Programs at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. And William Moyers is the Vice President of Public Affairs and Community Relations at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation.

This is Part 1 in a two-part podcast.

Susan Ford Bales, Mary Bono, Jerry Moe - "Healing the Hurt: Families, Addiction & Recovery" (Part 1)

Susan Ford Bales, Mary Bono and Jerry Moe spoke for the Betty Ford Center's popular "Awareness Hour" on Jan. 14, 2017, at the Annenberg Center for Health Sciences at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif., with William Moyers moderating. 

Susan Ford Bales, the daughter of former First Lady Betty Ford, is an author, photojournalist and member of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation's Board of Trustees. The Honorable Mary Bono is a former United States Congresswoman from California and a principal at FaegreBD Consulting. Jerry Moe is the national director of Children's Programs at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. And William Moyers is the Vice President of Public Affairs and Community Relations at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation.

This is Part 2 in a two-part podcast.

Susan Ford Bales, Mary Bono, Jerry Moe - "Healing the Hurt: Families, Addiction & Recovery" (Part 2)

On June 26, 1976, tens of thousands of people—including numerous celebrities from TV, movies, music and politics—gathered for FreedomFest '76. It was, and arguably still is, the largest "recovery advocacy" event in American history, held at what then was Metropolitan Stadium, original home of Minnesota's pro football and baseball teams, in Bloomington, MN.

One song featured at the festival was a contest winner named "A Fest of Freedom" by local musician Jerry Esnough. It touched on the poignancy of celebrating freedom from addiction in the same year that America was celebrating the 200th anniversary of its founding on principles of freedom. With his lyrics in the event program, Esnough was able to get the whole place singing along! This is that song, shared here with Jerry's permission.

Learn more about FreedomFest '76 here:
https://medium.com/@hazeldenbettyford/the-legacy-of-freedomfest-76-lives-on-308ea500f728

A Fest of Freedom by Jerry Esnough

Former First Lady Betty Ford reads the preamble at the Awareness Hour, a popular Saturday Morning speaker series held at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, CA, on April 3, 1982.  

It was five and a half years into the Awareness Hour’s history and six short months before the Betty Ford Center opened on the Eisenhower campus and assumed responsibility for the Awareness Hour. 

The Awareness Hour is now the longest running public recovery speaker series in America. This preamble read by Mrs. Ford, who attended the Awareness Hour frequently, provides terrific insight into its enduring vision.

Betty Ford Reads the Awareness Hour Preamble

One of the first women to achieve long-term sobriety in Alcoholics Anonymous, Marty Mann became a prominent recovery advocate, advancing the understanding that alcoholism is an issue of public health, not morality. This talk, discovered in the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation's archive library, is labeled as an "early Hazelden recording" from 1955. In the talk, entitled "The Hidden Drinker" and, alternately, "The Hidden Alcoholic," Mann explores the meaning of stigma and its impact, both overt and subtle, on the nation's ability to address the ubiquitous problem of addiction.

Mann's biography was later published by Hazelden Publishing in 2001: https://www.hazelden.org/store/item/7660?A-Biography-of-Mrs-Marty-Mann-Softcover .

Marty Mann: The Hidden Alcoholic (1955)

The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is a force of healing and hope for individuals, families and communities affected by addiction to alcohol and other drugs. It is the nation’s largest nonprofit treatment provider, with a legacy that began in 1949 and includes the 1982 founding of the Betty Ford Center. With 17 sites in California, Minnesota, Oregon, Illinois, New York, Florida, Massachusetts, Colorado and Washington, the Foundation offers prevention and recovery solutions nationwide and across the entire continuum of care for youth and adults.

Looking for the award-winning "Let's Talk Addiction and Recovery" podcast, hosted by William C. Moyers? Visit the link below.

Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation Audio

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