How Georgia might legislate nonprofit recovery community organizations and define certified peers

Georgia Public Broadcasting by Ellen Eldridge, March 10, 2026

Recovering from a substance use disorder takes more than medical help. It takes friends.

Peer support isn’t a new idea. Think of the circle of sharing at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. The idea grew into a network of trained peers in Recovery Community Organizations, which the Georgia General Assembly is attempting to define and maybe even regulate.

At a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous in the back of the room at the Paulding County RCO, people sit on sofas in the back corner of a big gray room. There’s a ping pong table in the center. A coffee bar to the side.

And there’s celebration.

“How many years? 21.”

That’s 21 years sober for Bob. A milestone.

Most people in recovery from substance use disorder say you can’t do this alone. You need peers with lived experience and training to better support those in active addiction.

“When you’re in the throes of addiction, you have no connection,” said Barbi Meadows, a certified peer support specialist. “You don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. So, that’s what we are for them, is help walk with them to that light.”

Substance use disorder is characterized by continued substance use despite harmful consequences like criminal charges, hospitalization and the threat of death. SUD remains one of the world’s greatest public health problems, affecting 48 million people in the United States, of which 1.6 million are Georgians.

For people with the disease of addiction, healing is a balancing act of supportive people, places and things. In Georgia, it’s the job of a certified peer support specialist.

Read more at Georgia Public Broadcasting.