Hundreds of people came out to Courthouse Square for this year’s "Rally for Recovery."
The event was hosted by Families of Addicts, an organization at the center of the substance use disorder treatment community in the Miami Valley.
They hold weekly meetings with support groups and more. They also host guest speakers and representatives from organizations that provide resources to people who use drugs and their families— they help people get access to everything from rehab to Narcan.
The annual rally is like a giant FOA meeting with dozens of speakers and booths, and a DJ and food trucks, organizers said.
Anita Kitchen is the Executive Director of FOA.
“This year it became personal for me as I got awarded custody of a little child because her mom was in addiction and went into court and named me and my husband to raise this child—she just turned four—who my husband and I had no clue we'd be getting,” she said.
This year’s emcee was Aaron Laine, who is an FOA member and the host of a long-running podcast about recovery in the region called Triumph Over Tragedy.
Laine said FOA helped his mother and provided her support when he was using drugs. Now, they come to the rally together so they can help others.
The signature moment of the event is the balloon launch, when FOA releases a thousand balloons. The non-profit said it symbolizes people who were lost to a substance use disorder and those who are still fighting it.
Recovery from addiction is possible. For help, please call the free and confidential treatment referral hotline (1-800-662-HELP) or visit findtreatment.gov