I was placed with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (SAMHSA - CSAT) office of the Director, Consumer Affairs.  The team-oriented department develops and implements the National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month Observance. The Recovery Month is an annual observance that takes place during the month of September. Recovery Month effort aims to promote the social benefits of alcohol and drug use disorder treatment, laud the contributions of treatment providers and promote the message that recovery from alcohol and drug use disorders in all its forms is possible. 

For more details on the observance and to find out how you can join in the celebration, please visit www.recoverymonth.gov.

In the department I was in charge of assisting and providing staff support to all Recovery Month Observance 2005-2006, related to communications initiatives and all contract work, I was also responsible for providing research support to the staff and support broadcast program operation for "The Road to Recovery", which is a series that will air 10 webcasts supporting the 16th annual observance of Recovery Month.

During the first three weeks of my internship at SAMHSA CSAT, I attended different professional development meetings such as Hispanic Employment Forum and The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) and both were great opportunities to network. In one of the activities we met Eduardo Bathia who is the Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration and Jimmy Smits, the Emmy Award and Golden Globe-winning actor. Both were speakers in the CHCI conference. One of the highlights of the evening, Executive Director Eduardo Bathia, invited me and other Puerto Rican students from another internship in Washington D.C. to his office.

Washington DC is rich in history. Museums, monuments, the zoo, are a few of things to do for free. They have excellent public transportation easy access to shops and malls, opportunities in employment, everything you need in a big city, but it's all in our nations capital.

I enjoyed the city, the difference in culture, interacting with other interns, my work, and finally I enjoyed helping the executive Consumer Affair staff.  Thank you HACU staff for this opportunity.

Melanie Deal
Internship at DHHS - Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
From 8/25/2005 to 8/12/2006

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