Misty Evans is a Certified Peer Recovery Peer Supervisor with the State of Arkansas, having 16 years of lived experience. She has been advocating for peer services since 2018, both through assisting affected persons one-on-one and through training others in peer support.
In her youth and substance abuse years, Ms. Evans had encounters with law enforcement and the court system. Using those experiences, she has worked inside the Criminal Justice System to help incarcerated persons become peer recovery specialists who could then assist others upon their release.
She previously worked at the state level and has overseen, through site visits, peer recovery programs to ensure resources were allocated correctly. She has also worked in the private sector, where she developed a curriculum for peer recovery topics and led numerous peer recovery groups.
Ms. Evans has worked in the substance abuse field since 2019, assisting individuals with substance use disorder and co-occurring mental health challenges to find their pathway to recovery. She shares her lived experience with others to inspire hope and connection.
Ms. Evans' passion is in recovery. She hopes to bring a vast network of resources to the citizens of Benton and Saline County and wants to build a network of stakeholders within our community so that those suffering from addiction can find pathways to recovery that are long-lasting.
If you know anyone struggling with Substance Use and wanting help, please reach out to Misty so she can help! You can reach her at 501-239-2147 (office) or 501-326-5222 (cell).
A Peer Recovery Specialist (PRS) is someone who is in long-term recovery from addiction, who has become certified to provide support, guidance, and education for individuals seeking or in active recovery. Because of the PRS’s lived experiences and personal journey through recovery, this allows them to provide recovery support in such a fashion that others can benefit from their experiences. The specialist demonstrates that recovery is possible. They aid in the process of giving and receiving encouragement, while assisting in the overall goal of achieving long-term recovery. The specialist’s activities include:
- Advocating for people in recovery
- Sharing resources and building skills
- Building community partnerships
- Leading recovery groups
- Mentoring and setting goals
A Peer Recovery Specialist can...
- Talk with individuals who are struggling with addiction and in denial to inspire them to realize what they are doing and what they want with their lives. This is a big first step in motivating change in the individual(s).
- Provide resources to: Treatment facilities Medical detox Outpatient programs Chem-free housing Recovery meetings and many others
- Improve the community by assisting the individual to become a functioning member of society.
This serves the community by...
- Contributing to an atmosphere of hope and unity Improving public safety by lowering recidivism rates
- Improving the economy by inspiring people to rejoin the job market
- Creating tax-paying citizens by lessening addiction and criminal thinking
- Collaborating between the courts, law enforcement and the community Creating a voice of reason on difficult social issues