Last fall, UC Merced’s first peer-led recovery program — known as Bobcats for Recovery — began meeting weekly to help support undergraduate and graduate students in recovery from substance use disorders.
As the recovery group’s first coordinator, student John Dovales Flores worked to educate others and change the support culture on campus.
“When you’re doing outreach, there’s a stigma around drug use and recovery,” he said. “We are trying to change the way that we talk about addiction — in the group and across campus.”