We often write about innovation in terms of technological advances that make life easier in various respects. Whether pertaining to a service that allows you to remain in the comfort of your own home while booze is brought directly to your door, or alternative modes of transportation, or everything in between, innovation is often loosely defined by those who utilize them. Former Boston City Council candidate Jack Kelly regards innovation as a way to make an advantageous impact on the community at large.
A native of Charlestown, Kelly made an unsuccessful bid last fall for one of the vacated At-large City Council seats. Though he was unable to reach City Hall, he made it abundantly clear on the campaign trail that his history of heroin addiction gave him a perspective on public service that many people are unable realize. He went from neighborhood to neighborhood, preaching the importance of increased availability to substance abuse programs and rehabilitation services calling on his own personal experience as evidence of its importance.
Though he was unable to secure a City Council seat, Kelly made sure his life experiences, ambition, and drive for making a positive neighborhood impact would not go to waste. In the imminent future, he'll be launching iRecover, a social network that connects addicts, recovering addicts, and families of those afflicted with each other in order to expedite the recovery process.
It's an innovation, Kelly contends, worthy of being called such.
"Innovation won't mean anything if it doesn't solve these big problems," Kelly told BostInno. "Innovation's impact on society can't mean 'oh, I get pizza quicker.' If it's just posting pictures, what does that really do? That's not an impact on the world."
The idea for iRecover has been marinating in Kelly's mind for years now. There have been several instances during his past 11 years of sobriety where he's needed a confidant to vent to, or even just spend some time with.
He recounts a trip to New Orleans he took with friends for a Patriots game. Rather than suffer through a night of drunken shenanigans with his buddies, Kelly turned to the internet in hopes of finding someone he could spend an on-the-wagon evening with. By the time he elicited a response, the night had come to an end.
He returned to Boston and his job at Massachusetts General Hospital where he witnessed what he describes as a bureaucratic, inefficient, and easily-corruptible system – not specifically with Mass General, but across other Boston healthcare facilities.
"And I came from City Hall," he chuckled, referencing his prior position with the Mayor Menino administration.
Combining his personal exposure to addiction with the need to try and initiate healthcare reform, Kelly made his case for City Council where he refused to dial down the language used to describe his former habit.
"I thought if I'm going to run for office, win or lose, I've got to make it count." added "Otherwise, what are we all doing this for?"
Refusing to wallow in defeat, Kelly decided to try a new approach: why not build a mobile application?
One could make the case that iRecover is an attempt to meld together all of the benefits of healthcare, recovery groups and social networking without any added strings attached. So he found himself a developing partner as committed to healthy communities as himself, and for the past four months, and some $8,000 later, they've been working on adapting the idea of iRecover into a tangible resource for those in need.
Arguably the biggest speed bump Kelly and his co-founder encountered was settling on a name.
"Even in the recovery world, there are different fractions," explained Kelly. "There are people who go to NA and strictly deal with narcotics who call themselves clean; people who go to AA call themselves sober. And people with families need help too. I didn't want to limit [the app] to just one group of people."
"I think this can actually reduce addiction rates," continued Kelly. "I think this can save lives."
And thus, iRecover was born.
Kelly's brainchild works as simply, effectively and intuitively as, say Facebook or Twitter. Users create a profile and can then select options like one on one, which offers users the chance to connect with another in an appropriate setting; meetings, which allows users to search for a recovery meeting in close proximity as well as add any that are not listed in the system; and share and feed, which scrolls through connected users' personal updates in real-time not unlike a Facebook or Twitter feed.
One technique Kelly hopes to incorporate as soon as possible is positive reinforcement feature that even B.F. Skinner would be proud of. Soon people celebrating a sobriety milestone – six months, a year, two years, etc. – will be awarded free prizes, though what kind of prizes they'll be are yet to be determined.
Perhaps the best part of iRecover is that it's not restricted to any one age-group or demographic. Whether the user is 50-years old or 22-years old, iRecover still serves the same function and still connects people in search of support. After all, no matter what one's age is, transitioning from a rampant lifestyle to an abstaining one can prove to be quite a lonely experience.
Glad to be at City Hall celebrating recovery month. I applaud @marty_walsh @FelixArroyo @AyannaPressley on leadership for recovery #bospoli
— Jack Kelly (@JackKelly111) September 5, 2014
"I think this can actually reduce addiction rates," continued Kelly. "I think this can save lives."
One interesting trend that's emerged with some service startups as of late has been pleading their case to Mayor Marty Walsh. Though in most recent terms this pertains mostly to parking apps like Haystack and rival solutions like SPOT Parking (which bills itself as the Airbnb of parking apps), they've plead their case to Mayor Walsh and, for better or worse, have engaged in some kind of discussion with the Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics on implementing best practices to better serve the public.
Kelly had the benefit of vying for his City Hall spot during the same time Mayor Walsh was battling for his. Mayor Walsh, a recovering alcoholic, has been sober for years and it was only a matter of time before he and Kelly struck up a friendship. Upon election, Kelly was tapped for Mayor Walsh's addiction and recovery task force. Naturally, Kelly brought up the idea of iRecover to the big cat himself and it was met with a positive response. He's into it.
Innovation's impact on society can't mean 'oh, I get pizza quicker.' If it's just posting pictures, what does that really do?
"How cool was that," reminisced Kelly. "Two people in recovery running on the biggest stage in the city."
With a green light from the mayor, an interface that's been built out and a product that's been beta tested successfully with over 100 users, the only thing Kelly is waiting for is an email of approval from the iOS and Android app stores. Once that confirmation is received, those looking to put iRecover to the test will be able to download it on their respective device for free.
From there, Kelly will watch his brainchild grow organically and untainted by the hands of corporate America. Though he's already received offers to invest heavily and even purchase iRecover, Kelly recognizes that this is a public service first and a business second. The app will only be successful if Kelly is spreading the word, and not advertisers (though he did tell me monetization will be coming later).
"The only way it'll work is if people listen to what I'm talking about," Kelly noted.
We're listening, Jack.
