Beach House Stands Up to Addiction and for Recovery in Solidarity with Local Community
Beach House is partnering with the greater Palm Beach County treatment and recovery community to organize a “Stand Up and Reach Out” gathering on Saturday, March 10, from 9am to 10:30am, as a show of community support for the local treatment and recovery community, during a national addiction epidemic that is the worst yet on record. A December 2017 article in My Palm Beach Post projected that the rate of overdose fatalities in 2018 will rise to between 11 and 12 per week, drawing a comparison to the height of the local AIDS crisis in the 1980’s.
“Stand Up and Reach Out” is being hosted by the Recovery Awareness Partnership and Palm Beach County Substance Awareness Coalition, two local advocacy groups that Beach House is working closely with to raise local awareness about addiction and encourage grassroots action in the prevention and treatment of substance abuse.
How Beach House Is Participating
Micah Robbins, a community substance use prevention leader and recovery and treatment advocate, is helping to promote the event and organize Beach House’s involvement. “Beach House has been a big support,” he said.
As one of many participants from the treatment and recovery community, (including other treatment providers, families and loved ones in recovery, and anyone passionate about the cause), Beach House is organizing a group of alumni, staff and members of the sober living community. They will be gathering at the block of Old School House Square, in Delray Beach, from 9am to 10:30am, where they will “circle School House Square with as many people as possible and come together like a flash bomb,” Robbins said. Their unifying goal: to “Stand up for our community” and “Reach out for recovery.” For more details, and to learn how you can get involved, read on.
Robbins said he hopes the event will shine more of a light on the local opiate epidemic and community-led solutions to the crisis. He also emphasized that the March 10 gathering is as much about showing “that people care in this community” about the problem of addiction and those who suffer from it.
“We’re losing kids, loved ones and adults at an astounding rate,” Robbins said, adding, “Let’s not forget the good people who are living in recovery every day.”
Other Community Initiatives to Address the Local Opiate Epidemic
The March 10 gathering is only one of “a number of community initiatives happening in South Florida in response to the opiate crisis,” according to Robbins. By way of example, he mentioned a moderated forum and Q&A with Delray Beach mayoral and commissioner candidates, which will be taking place on March 7, at 7pm, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. The meet-and-greet forum will allow members of the community to meet the candidates and hear their ideas on how to address the opiate crisis.
“The community is saying, ‘We’re here to do something about it,’” Robbins said. “This isn’t a top-down solution or a government solution, and it’s going to come from the community.”
To learn how you can participate, or for more information about other community initiatives to address the opiate epidemic, contact Micah Robbins micahrobbins@pbcfac.org.