Tarusa Stewart, a Certified Peers Specialists in Addiction Disease, Mental Health service, Forensic Peer Mentor and Certified Addiction Counselor. Mrs. Stewart is a woman in long term recovery on a journey to support others in recovery by living her recovery out loud to empowering other recovery leaders in her community. She began working in the Behavioral Health field in 2010 at Phoenix Center Behavior Health System. Mrs. Stewart had also worked for the Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network as a Forensic Peer Mentor; where she served returning citizens, at Baldwin State Prison. Mrs. Stewart and her community collaborative has hosted eight National Recovery Month events in Middle Georgia. In February 2015, a Recovery Symposium in Houston County had focused conversation on recovery and fostered collaborations that led to the development of iHOPE Inc, a 501c (3) recovery community organization serving Middle Georgia. iHOPE is an acronym for Intentional Holistic Opportunities to Promote Empowerment. Today Mrs. Stewart, the founder and Executive Director of iHOPE, the Advisory Team and Board of Directors continue the recovery movement by building peer/ally leadership and recovery partnerships that help keep people well in our communities. In addition to her peer recovery support skills for working with individuals and groups, she is an experienced trainer on the Science of Addiction and Recovery and another specialty in Cultural Competency.