Recovery Nation

“It is believed that the number of people who are just alcohol and chemical dependant, just those two categories [in the U.S.], are greater than the population of Central America. In excess of 31,000,000 Americans. And if you factor that in with people who have eating disorders, self-mutilation, sex addiction, love addiction, gambling problems, food addiction, the number is much, much higher.” This amazing statistic was brought to my attention by Brian Connelly, who works with John Tomkinson, founder of “Recovery Nation” and host of the radio program, “Recovery Nation Live.”

Recovery Nation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with several facets. First, there is the radio program where individuals call in with their story, receive advice and often treatment for their addiction. Second is a social networking website where members can get additional information and network with other people that share their addiction. And third is an upcoming Recovery Nation bus tour featuring education, information and peer-to-peer support.

John Tomkinson, known as “J.T.” to his friends and listeners, had an early interest in getting into broadcasting and had a nose for news. In addition to being a disk jockey, founding a community newspaper and a direct mail company, J.T. has also been the voice of NASCAR color for radio broadcast in the Los Angeles radio market. J.T.'s addiction to alcohol kept pulling him back down.
Once his life and future totally crashed, he went into rehab. In recovery he wanted to get back into radio in L.A. but was blackballed because of his alcoholism. He prayed for guidance in keeping sober and promised God that he would help others. He made it his life's mission to stay sober while bringing the message of hope for a better life to the masses through the most accessible medium – live talk radio. “Recovery Nation” was born.

He tried to pitch his talk show idea to several radio stations in L.A. and to potential advertisers with no luck. He was eventually able to get the funding he needed and went on the air. The program went from a zero to five-percent share; 580,000 people an hour tuned into his show. He never gave up and even lived in his car for a year. This was 5 years ago and he moved the radio program to South Florida, where his listenership has been growing exponentially, last October.

J.T. has the ability to bring out what's really bothering the caller, over the air, and gets them to admit they need help with a crystal meth, cocaine, self-mutilation, gambling, sex, love, codependency or alcoholism addiction. When necessary, J.T., a trained interventionist, holds on-the-air interventions.
“I've put people in treatment that night [they've called]. We've been on the air almost a year here. This year our goal is to put 100 people in treatment via the radio show. That's a tall order. We've put 87 in already, far ahead of our goal,“ J.T. told me.

“Recovery Nation Live” is more than a reality radio show. “It's the most moving show you'll ever listen to in your life,” J.T. said. “I couple it with some humor, some entertainment, some solution and the real story. And the real story is addiction.” Eventually he would like a Spanish version of his show.


In addition to the radio show there is their resource-filled, social networking website, RecoveryNationLive.com, which features information on where addicts can get help, archives of past shows, news releases, article reprints, streaming audio and a window for emailing the host. Because of the website people call the show from all over the country and J.T. has even received some calls from Europe. The Recovery Nation Live website was voted the number one site in the world for recovery from addiction by Google. Recently they got 71,000 hits in just one night.

His next goal is a “Recovery Nation Live Bus Tour” where “we would leave from South Florida and visit every state each year with three busses. A tech bus so we can broadcast as we roll, a staff bus and a medical bus. So if, for example, we went to Orlando, our logistics people would let the officials in Orlando know that Recovery Nation is coming to town. They would ask the city officials to donate a venue to bring everybody together, as many people as they could, to educate the children. It's all about children.” Currently, they have their first bus.

J.T. is a strong believer that it's better to inform and educate the children on the dangers of addiction than to try to treat the addiction of an adult. “It's always about information and education. To give more information and education to kids,” he says. But it won't be just J.T. passing on the information, it will be more peer-to-peer. For instance it will be a 14 year-old talking to a 14 year-old to talk about the consequences of drug and alcohol abuse. “It's preventative maintenance to let that kid talk to that other kid.”

“All of us love to be buzzed,” said J.T. “I'd love to get high right now. I'd love to drink alcohol. When I drink alcohol I have an allergic reaction to it. It makes me sick. I have a disease of the brain. The number one concern of the World Health Organization, the number one concern of the United States Federal Government, is addiction. It's taking over our country.”

J.T. says that if he gave urinalysis tests to a given a group of people, three out of four would test dirty. Seven out of ten doctors are dirty. Eight out of ten people who work in emergency rooms are dirty.
“I'm an alcoholic,” J.T. concluded. “I have a huge ego and little self esteem. I've been on crutches all my life, but I'm free.” Free, but still willing to offer a helping hand to those in need.