Ramona Lumpkin, MSW, LLBSW, works for Recovery Institute as a Certified Peer Support Specialist and a Certified Peer Recovery Coach. She also has a SPADA (Specialty Program in Drug and Alcohol Abuse) certificate from Western Michigan University. In 2020, when she began working for RI, Ramona was trained as a SMART Group Facilitator and she co-facilitates our Transformations Group. In the community, Ramona fulfills the role of Recovery Coach to Kalamazoo’s 8th District Men’s Drug Treatment Court, Kalamazoo’s 9th District Family Treatment Court, as well as the Southwest Michigan Recovery Coach Network. She also contributes her skills to the Kalamazoo Defender Project.
Ramona was born in Kalamazoo to a family with generations of successful women. Many strong, female relatives preceded her: musicians, professors, figures in the church, medical workers in the community. As a result, the sense of being a “black sheep” was something Ramona felt early on in life. She spent her formative years navigating her addiction struggles. Today, she lives out her family’s legacy as a strong woman who serves others and gives back on purpose. She works her recovery first before anything and this has allowed her to re-gain trust in herself and her ability to achieve.
“I struggled for years, couldn't stay clean. Couldn't face reality. Because I was an addict, I remember what it was like.” Ramona lives her current life in gratitude for what her past life has taught her. Her way out was the 12 Steps, but she believes it’s important for each peer to walk the path that calls them. “There's beauty when children smile at you on the street, or when you can tell that you’re being trusted…being able to be dependable, that’s true recovery.”
Ramona finds support in her Higher Power, daily inventory, mate, family and other loved ones in her recovery community. She believes in paving the way and building up the youth and racial minorities who are our future. “I understand I won't be here forever, and what’s most important in my life is what I do to help somebody else move forward.”