“We wanted to do something that is tangible,” says Gary Perlow, president and founder of the Nikki Perlow Foundation. “We wanted to send a message that people do recover.”
Thus, the Road to Recovery Quilt project was born.
The lovingly-constructed quilt — which is very pink, 75 feet long and 6 feet wide — is an innovative and enduring testament to individuals who are recovering from substance abuse.
Created in 2008, the Perlow Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded by the family of Nikki Perlow, who died at age 21 in 2007 of an accidental drug overdose. Gary Perlow was Nikki’s uncle.
The foundation works with young adults on overcoming drug and alcohol addictions by providing financial, emotional and logistical support to improve chances for long-term recovery.
The foundation also strives to increase awareness and prevention of substance abuse, and works to eliminate the stigma associated with the disease of addiction.
Begun in April 2015 and guaranteed to be longer by next month, the quilt will be on display during the organization’s Flutter-Buy 2 event, a public fundraiser on Oct. 1 from 6:30-11 p.m.
The quilt is inscribed with approximately 600 names — so far – of individuals who offer words of inspiration on the subject of recovery.
“We all hear about the tragic stories, the untimely deaths, the destruction [that addiction has] on families,” says Nina Merkel of Merkel Design Studio, a founding board member and designer of the project, along with quilter Connie Apatoff.
“When people get into long-term recovery, they turn their lives around and live very healthy, constructive, productive, sober, drug and alcohol-free lives. [With the quilt] we’re trying to show people the other side of the addiction story. And we want to celebrate the success of people who have done it.”
On the foundation’s website (www.npfroadtorecovery.org), there is no cost to visitors to create a “brick” for the quilt, with each one measuring 11-by-5.5 inches. The options are to create a brick commemorating one’s own sobriety; in honor of someone else’s triumph over addiction; or to donate to the “Paver Fund” to help with “construction.”
A name or initials, a sobriety date and a short phrase are printed onto each brick, which are sewn into larger panels to create the quilt. Some of the sobriety dates are only a few months old, and some reach back 50 years, Merkel says.
“I think its greatest strength is the words on each brick,” she says. “They capture the spirit of what recovery means to them,” and vary from witticisms to poems to serious heartfelt thoughts. Collectively, that’s what the strength of the quilt project is. It’s so inspiring to see how long people have been in recovery, you can hear their voices through what they said on their bricks. I just think it’s so powerful.”
Only the cost for materials are incurred to make each quilted brick. Designers and quilters all volunteer their time.
The quilt began its touring exhibition at Ashley Addiction Treatment in Havre de Grace, and is currently at Caron Treatment Center in Wernersville, Pa. It will return to Baltimore for the addition of brick panels and the foundation’s event.
But the quilt’s visibility is key to its impact.
“To put it in a treatment facility is really valuable,” Merkel says. “The exposure [of the sobriety names and dates] to these people who are doing the hard work every day is really inspiring, especially for the people in treatment or who may have just started their recovery. And to see what they said about their process is really inspiring and good medicine for them.
“The road to life, [like] the road to recovery, is full of bumps, full of setbacks and potholes,” she says, “but it goes forward.”
The Nikki Perlow Foundation’s Flutter-Buy 2 event will be held Oct. 1 from 6:30-11 p.m. at The Four Seasons Private Residences, 100 International Drive in Baltimore. Tickets are $175. For information, call 410-375-8839 or visit http://www.nikkiperlowfoundation.org
Melissa Gerr is a Baltimore-based freelance writer.
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