In Connecticut, one mother is using art to change how people think and talk about addiction. Patricia Bode, an art professor at Southern Connecticut State University, started the Remember Love Recovery Project after her son, Ryan Moriarty, died of an accidental overdose in 2018.
The project helps people make small fabric banners called recovery flags, each one telling a story of loss, resilience or hope.
For families across the state searching for addiction treatment and support, the work is a reminder that they are not alone.
Fighting Stigma One Flag at a Time
Ryan was an artist and musician whose work often carried the phrase ‘Remember Love.’ His mother turned those words into a mission: to reduce the shame that surrounds addiction through art, education and human connection.
The project became a nonprofit in 2025 and has since reached workshops in 15 states, including community centers, museums, correctional facilities and transitional housing. It has helped create more than 4,000 recovery flags.
The flags do more than decorate a wall. They start conversations. Bode and volunteers hang them at arts festivals and museums, where people say they are moved just by reading the stories behind them.
Why Stigma Matters in Addiction
Stigma is not only hurtful. It is one of the biggest barriers that keeps people from asking for help.
According to the nonprofit Shatterproof, nearly 49 million Americans age 12 or older had a substance use disorder in the past year.
Yet its 2024 Addiction Stigma Index found that 57% of the public believe a person with a substance use disorder is not trustworthy.
Those attitudes can discourage people from seeking addiction treatment and isolate the families who love them.
Understanding Addiction and the Signs
A substance addiction is a treatable medical condition, not a moral failing. Common signs of addiction include losing interest in activities a person used to enjoy, pulling away from friends and family, and being unable to cut back despite wanting to.
Recognizing these signs early, without judgment, can make it easier for someone to reach out for help.
The project’s organizers are careful to say they are not clinicians. As Bode put it, the effort is a way to connect people to recovery and support it, not to replace professional care.
Similar programs are growing elsewhere, including Indiana’s Overdose Lifeline and a social prescribing group called SocialRx, which now operates in 12 states including Connecticut.
Finding Addiction Treatment in Connecticut
Art can open the door to a conversation, but professional support is what helps people recover. If you or someone you love is struggling, you can search addiction treatment centers in Connecticut, ask providers about counseling and medication options, and connect with local family support.
Addictions.com lists verified rehab centers across Connecticut. Call
800-681-1058
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