Crowds are expected in Courthouse Square Sunday for the sixth-annual “Rally For Recovery,” an event promoting recovery from addiction. The rally is hosted by the nonprofit advocacy group FOA Families of Addicts.
FOA Executive Director Anita Kitchen says last year’s rally was attended by more than 3,000 people.
This year's event, she says, will have a broader Dayton focus.
“With the tornadoes and with the KKK rally and then the shooting, we want to support the community,” says Kitchen “because as major things happen there seems to be more drug use and more overdoses. So, we’re wanting people to come out and support this and learn about resources out there to help people.”
Paul Wise, an FOA member and recovering addict, says the rally will feature 65 booths with service providers that can connect Daytonians to a wide variety of rehabilitation, mental health, and workforce services.
“[The event] gives those resources a chance to meet the community where they’re at,” Wise says.
The event is also intended to be a celebration of the recovery community, with music and entertainment offered across the square all afternoon.
FOA was founded by Lori Erion in 2013. The group now offers weekly meetings in four different locations: Dayton, Springfield, Sidney and Van Wert.
The Dayton meetings are often packed with dozens of people sharing stories, resources and support.
For Erion, who's in recovery from addiction herself, the Rally for Recovery isn’t just a chance to celebrate recovery and make vital connections.
It’s also a very public way to let people who are struggling in private know support is available to them, she says.
She encourages anyone in the Miami Valley who is struggling with addiction -- their own or a loved one's -- to come out Sunday. For people in this situation, Erion has a message:
“Look at the thousands of us that are willing to celebrate and to embrace you and help you heal and let you know that you’re truly not alone.”
The Rally for Recovery starts at 3 p.m. this Sunday, August 25, in Courthouse Square. For more information, visit FOA.