May is mental health awareness month

By Emma Peterson.

It’s time to start the hard conversations about mental health and addiction because those conversations save lives.

With May being mental health awareness month, this is a great moment to shine a light on the mental health challenges members of our industry face on a daily basis. To talk about those struggles and how we can help support the roofers experiencing them, Paul Reed of Roofers in Recovery came by The Coffee Shops™ for an episode of Roofing Road Trips®.

The story of Roofers in Recovery actually started over 17 years ago with Paul’s own personal experiences. He explained, “I'm a person of long-term recovery, meaning that I went to a rehab about 17 and a half years ago. I've been clean and sober since then. And rehab is great, but most people that need to go or have a desire to go probably don't have insurance. I know I didn’t, I was only able to go because my family and friends had scraped enough money together for me.”  

When Paul got out of rehab and was able to restart his life in the roofing industry, he realized he wanted to help others like him. It started with a call to Eric Oberembt, the owner and CEO of D&M Roofing and Siding and now the co-founder of Roofers in Recovery. The duo put together some money and were able to help support getting another person into rehab. From there, they started Roofers in Recovery and, now seven years later, they haven’t looked back.

The importance of organizations like Roofers in Recovery has never been as visible as it is today. Recently, the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) reported that, in 2023, the suicide rate in construction is 4x greater than the U.S. national average and 5x greater than all other construction fatalities. In other words, we lost more members of our community to mental health and drug addiction than fall risks. There are a lot of different factors like long work hours and isolating mental health stigmas that play a role in those numbers. Paul explained, “The fact is, we're working long hours in the sun. Maybe you get sore, you get tired, self-medicating might seem like an easy solve. There’s also the financial stresses that start to cause a lot of anxiety and depression.”

The good news is that heightened awareness of these issues and the presence of organizations like Roofers in Recovery indicates a shift in the industry, one that will save lives. And that shift starts with small things. Paul gave an example, “Roofers in Recovery is sharing a worksheet that can be included in toolbox talks and brings up of these issues about anxiety and depression and drug abuse and all these things.” The goal is to start the conversation, because simply not being alone in a struggle can make all the difference at the end of the day.  

Read the transcript or Listen to the full episode to learn more about Roofers in Recovery and other mental health resources available to members of the roofing industry.