My name is David and I am a grateful recovering addict and alcoholic. These are words I have said countless times since Sep. 29, 2013. As a result of working a program of recovery, a dear friend made me aware of recovering addicts and alcoholics being covered under the ADA as a mental illness. I didn’t fully understand what this meant in terms of my rights to accommodations until this past year in the pandemic. My program of recovery is a metaphoric ramp I require to be a productive member of society. And people fought hard for rights to accommodations for a forever evolving spectrum of disability that included me before I even knew it. It is an honor to share this revelation every chance I get with people who are unaware as I once was.