Addiction is something everybody encounters, whether personally, within the family, or even a close friend. There are well known addictions like Methamphetamines and alcohol, but because prescripted pharmaceuticals are widely distributed and easier to obtain, abuse of these drugs have torn up families and have had fatal consequences.
I have a family member who has an addiction problem and it has brought us through a roller coaster ride that never ends. There never seems to be any good “advice” when dealing with someone who doesn’t want any help or is in self denial. Rehabilitation facilities cost at least 30K and are not always effective. I constantly searched through different websites for helpful information, but it seemed that everything was scattered. It is hard enough for someone to admit they need help, and when they search for it, it is difficult to find. It wasn’t until I stumbled upon a sober living home and found out that there are lots of affordable options and opportunities for people who want to recover from addiction. The gentleman who ran the sober living home had stories of addiction of his own and gave me all sorts of pamphlets and extremely helpful resources. Why didn’t I know about these options before? Why couldn’t I easily find it on the internet?
A couple of weeks ago, some students did a class presentation on CMS (Content Management Systems) and LMS (Learning Management Systems). It occurred to me that a CMS is exactly what I need. It will allow me to create one source for a wide range of information. I can add links to places people can go for counseling, detox centers, sober living homes, free places to stay the night, non-profits, etc. I would start by focusing on San Jose and San Francisco and hopefully expand it.
My goal is to get familiar with using a program called Jumla and start adding resources and tags. I hope to get a decent amount of content and helpful links by the end of this class and continue to update and improve throughout the year.
Iteckat's Blog 
Alex Said:
on April 23, 2009 at 7:18 pm
Have you googled sober social networks? I bet you can compare what’s out there with your personal goals. Probably other social networks would be good too. Sparkpeople.com comes to mind as a good resource — this is a social network geared toward healthy eating and living. They do a pretty good job of it. I bet you would find it inspiring.