Executive Director, Recovery Point West Virginia
By Samantha Cart
Matt Boggs has never met a stranger. His strong work ethic, outgoing personality and ability to develop meaningful relationships serve him well in his role as executive director of Recovery Point West Virginia. He has always been at ease meeting and talking to people no matter the circumstances, and overseeing the largest addiction recovery support provider in West Virginia, he is often meeting and encouraging people during one of the hardest times of their lives.
“My job is tough—I see the debilitating effects addiction has on families and communities,” he says. “However, I am also witness to more than 400 men and women who have found recovery, transformed their lives and reunited with their families. To know that I’ve played a small part in someone’s recovery, whether directly or indirectly, is gratifying and the most enjoyable part of my job.”
While Boggs’ good nature and compassion go a long way with Recovery Point participants, it is his personal experience with addiction that makes him their ideal advocate.
“The biggest challenge I have faced in my life is the substance use disorder that inhibited my ability to be the person God intended me to be,” he says. “Now approaching seven years of recovery, my story has provided me with a platform to spread a message of hope, help shape policy, serve those without a voice, marry my wife and begin raising our beautiful daughter.”
Boggs’ time at Recovery Point has not only meant overcoming his greatest challenge but also achieving his greatest success, which he believes to be expanding services to women.
“Initially, Recovery Point only had residential beds for men,” he says. “I am so proud to say that services are now offered in both Huntington and Charleston for more than 150 West Virginia women at Recovery Point facilities.”
A true servant, Boggs’ passion for people is not limited to his work life. He is also dedicated to serving his community. “Living in a community is much more than just being a homeowner or residing in a city—it is being an active participant in that community,” he says. “Giving of our time and talents is what we are supposed to do.”
Boggs is a member of the Rotary Club of Huntington, the Fairfield Alliance, Generation Huntington, Congressman Evan Jenkins’ substance abuse advisory committee, the SAMHSA Region III workforce development team and the Cabell-Huntington Health Department’s harm reduction advisory committee.
He has also served as a member of the drug policy committee on Governor Jim Justice’s transition team, Governor Earl Ray Tomblin’s Regional Substance Abuse Task Force, National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence’s Facing Addiction and the Bringing Recovery Supports to Scale Technical Assistance Center Strategy Academy. He has also invested time and talent in the Cabell County Substance Abuse and Prevention Partnership, West Virginia Certification Board for Addiction & Prevention Professionals, Faces & Voices of Recovery and U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin’s heroin round table, and he served as an adjunct professor for Mountwest Community & Technical College’s Peer Recovery Certification.
He has participated in numerous public forums on addiction and also volunteers with One by One Animal Advocates, a nonprofit organization that works to eliminate euthanasia at local animal shelters. Since 2012, Boggs and his wife, Megan, have fostered more than 40 dogs and adopted three—Sonny, Bo and Patches. In 2017, Boggs was named a West Virginian of the Year for his service to his community.
Despite growing up right across the border in Ashland, KY, Boggs and his family have chosen to make their home and their mission field here in West Virginia due to the kindness, commitment and love of its people. “As a transplant, I didn’t adopt West Virginia. It adopted me.”
