Persons in Long-term Recovery to be Featured at 4th Annual Addicted to Hope Rally: Overdose Awareness Campaign Leads Up to the Event

Published Date: Sep 6, 2019‍

The fourth annual Addicted to Hope Rally will include a number of speakers who will share their journey from battling addiction to prospering in recovery. The featured speakers include:

  • Kim Shupe, person in long-term recovery and House Manager at Rivendell Recovery Center
  • Julie Funkhouser, person in long-term recovery and CEO of The Recovery Connection, a transitional living program for women
  • Jeff Washington, person in long-term recovery

Also speaking are the Honorable Beth Kellas of the Winchester/Frederick County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court and Michael Partlow of Partlow Insurance. The event also includes two live bands; David Roy’s Blues Band and Michael Joe Frazier, as well as children’s activities including a bounce house, food vendors, and resource tables. The evening will wrap up with the lighting of luminaries and a Walk of Hope in celebration of those in recovery and in memory of those who have lost their lives to addiction. The rally will take place on Saturday, September 14th, during National Recovery Month. The event will be from 4 p.m. – 8 p.m. in front of Handley High School. The rally is made possible by Platinum Level Sponsors, Partlow Insurance and Erie Insurance, as well as the generous support of 30 local businesses and organizations.

Leading up to the Rally, the Northern Shenandoah Valley Substance Abuse Coalition (NSVSAC) is launching an overdose awareness campaign. The 5 Days of 5 Ways You Can Prevent an Overdose campaign will feature videos on the following topics:

  • Day 1 – NARCAN
  • Day 2 – Drug Take Back
  • Day 3 – Families on the Road to Recovery
  • Day 4 – Peer Recovery Specialists and the Within Reach Peer Resource Center
  • Day 5 – Addicted to Hope Rally

This campaign was motivated by a spike in overdoses the Northern Shenandoah Valley has experienced in previous years during the middle of September. In 2018, 11 overdoses were reported between September 20th and September 29th. The NSVSAC is bringing awareness of these spikes in hopes of preventing history from repeating itself. The 5 Days of 5 Way You Can Prevent an Overdose campaign will run from Monday, September 9th – Friday, September 13th. You can see the videos on the Coalition’s Facebook page as well as on the www.roadtorecovery.info website.