🌍 Global Peer Support Celebration Day 2025

Celebrating Connection and Collective Healing

The Connection Center RGV proudly hosted Global Peer Support Celebration Day 2025 at the San Juan Community Center, bringing together peers, providers, and community members to celebrate recovery, wellbeing, and connection. We extend our heartfelt thanks to Hidalgo County Precinct 2 for their support and partnership. Together, we honor the strength of lived experience and the power of peer support in building healthier, more compassionate communities.💛

This year marked the third consecutive year that Connection Center RGV celebrated Global Peer Support Celebration Day! 🎉 We are proud to share that in 2025, we welcomed over 204 participants, a beautiful reflection of our growing community. Our staff and volunteers are deeply grateful for the community’s response and participation, and every year we grow stronger together. 

We were honored to have the participation of the following agencies:
▪️Angels of Love
▪️Hidalgo County Mental Health Coalition
▪️Methodist Ministries
▪️Consulado de México en McAllen
▪️UTRGV
▪️Texas A&M Colonias Program
▪️Masajes Terapéuticos
▪️Academia de Belleza Rivas
▪️Free Vision Screenings
▪️Exelence Home Health
▪️Legacy Insurance
▪️LRGV AHEC
▪️Texas Legal Aid
▪️Belleza Artesanal Brimesha
▪️La LUPE
▪️MHP Salud
▪️Tropical Texas Behavioral Health
▪️Texas Department of State Health Services

Participants also enjoyed our Mindful Corner, where art was used as a form of expression and reflection, a reminder that healing takes many forms and that moments of connection lead to restoration. The self-care station, hosted by Academia de Belleza Riva, encouraged participants to invest time in themselves as an act of love, while therapeutic massages reminded us of the importance of nurturing both body and mind.

Free cholesterol, triglyceride, and A1C screenings were provided thanks to our generous healthcare partners. Participants also enjoyed our coffee station and a light lunch, creating a warm and welcoming space for community connection. Raffle prizes were shared with attendees courtesy of our partner agencies.

We were especially moved by the testimonies shared by participants of our programs, whose stories were filled with resilience, hope, and strength. Thank you for your vulnerability and inspiration. You remind us why peer support matters. 💛 The event was filled with reflection, connection, joyful moments, and unity, because there is strength in community and healing in unity. 🌱

Join us for a relaxed mixer where peer recovery professionals come together to swap practical tools, spark collaborations, and leave with at least one concrete next step to use in your work. Expect short, focused conversations, useful referrals, and a chance to meet people who understand the realities of peer support; bring one resource or one challenge you’d like input on.

This is a low-pressure evening designed for action, not presentations. Come ready to connect, share, and build something that strengthens your community impact. 🤝🌿

Register today by scanning the QR code on the flyer or email [email protected] for any questions. 

🌱 Fueling Your Mind: Discover, Learn, Grow in the Growth Corner

📖 Book of the Month

Recommended by

Elsa Roman

Program Director – RGV Connection Center

The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture by Gabor Maté, Daniel Maté

Listening to Pain, Learning to Heal

This month, we highlight The Myth of Normal by Gabor Maté and Daniel Maté. The authors argue that many chronic illnesses and addictive behaviours are embodied responses to trauma, prolonged stress, and cultural patterns that leave basic needs unmet. Using patient stories, neuroscience, and cultural critique, Maté traces how early wounds and ongoing strain become biology and reshape health.

He moves beyond quick fixes to advocate curious, relational care and practical practices that help people listen to pain as a signal rather than a verdict. Read it to rethink how we name suffering and to begin small acts of repair in daily life.

"This book is a compassionate, eye-opening look at how trauma, stress, and culture shape our bodies and minds. Maté explains why so many of our “normal” habits actually hide pain, and shows that healing starts with awareness, connection, and self-compassion. If you work in mental health, support others, or are on your own healing journey, this book offers deep insight and hope." - Elsa Roman

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”

-  Anaïs Nin

This month's quote invites a quiet check-in. Sometimes the cost of staying the same becomes heavier than the cost of change. That weight is a gentle message to tend what matters and give yourself bravery in small doses. Growth then looks like ordinary, repeated choices: a brief habit, a small boundary, a single honest sentence, each slowly loosening fear and expanding what you can hold. Try one modest step this week and notice what opens. Bloom slowly, kindly, with purpose. 

If you could gift your future self one small habit to protect their peace, what would it be and why would it matter?

Take a moment to pause and think about this question. 

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