Faces & Voices of Recovery Honors Extraordinary Recovery Advocates Recognized for Fight Against Addiction
WASHINGTON (PRWEB) July 17, 2018 -- Extraordinary leaders of the addiction recovery advocacy movement from across the nation will be honored in Washington, D.C. at the annual America Honors Recovery Awards Dinner & Gala on July 23, 2018. “It’s more important than ever to spotlight the people and organizations making a difference. Our work focuses on solutions and demonstrating that people can and do recover,” says Patty McCarthy Metcalf, the Executive Director of Faces & Voices of Recovery.
Former Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy of Island Heights, New Jersey, will receive the prestigious 2018 Voice of Recovery Award. After 16 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving Rhode Island’s First Congressional District, Patrick is best known as the lead sponsor of the groundbreaking Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act. After leaving Congress, he has continued to be a tireless advocate for changing the way we view mental health and addiction and often shares his personal journey of recovery publicly.
Beverly Haberle, of Jamison, Pennsylvania, will receive the 2018 William L. White Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award. Beverly has served for 40 years as the Executive Director of The Council of Southeast Pennsylvania, Inc., a non-profit recovery community organization that provides prevention, intervention, education, advocacy, and addiction recovery solutions.
Walter Ginter of Westport, Connecticut, will receive the 2018 Lisa Mojer Torres Award for his dedication and advocacy for medication supported recovery. Walter is the founding Project Director of the Medication Assisted Recovery Support Project (MARS), a program that provides peer recovery support to persons whose recovery from opiate addiction is supported by medication.
The 2018 Vernon Johnson Awards will be presented to three individuals for their achievements in promoting awareness of the reality of recovery from addiction to the public, policymakers, media and others within their own communities.
The Individual Recovery Advocate award will be presented to Tonya Wheeler of Denver, Colorado. As the Executive Director of Advocates for Recovery Colorado (AFR) since 2009, Tonya’s passion for helping others remains evident in her tireless work in the fields of recovery, advocacy, and treatment for substance use disorders.
The Family Recovery Advocate award will be presented to Pennsylvania State Representative Gene DiGiloramo of Bensalem, Pennsylvania. Throughout his career, Gene has been an outspoken advocate for families impacted by addiction. He has spent the last three terms as the chairman of the Pennsylvania House Human Services Committee, where he focuses his efforts on treatment, prevention, and recovery resources for those affected by the opioid crisis.
The Young Adult Recovery Advocate award will be presented to Sierra Castedo-Rodgers, of Austin, Texas and formerly from Elkhart, Indiana. Sierra is a young person in long-term recovery and has been involved in the collegiate recovery movement and the recovery movement at large since 2012. She is the director of the Center for Students in Recovery at the University of Texas at Austin and is the President-elect of the Association of Recovery in Higher Education.
The 2018 Joel Hernandez Voice of the Recovery Community Award will be presented to Communities for Recovery, in Austin, Texas. Since its inception, Communities for Recovery has been an exemplary Recovery Community Organization dedicated to building a strong and healthy recovery community. Executive Director, Robin Peyson of Austin, will receive the award on behalf of the organization.
The America Honors Recovery Awards Dinner & Gala will be held at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on July 23rd. This annual fundraising gala is hosted by Faces & Voices of Recovery, the nation’s leading recovery advocacy organization since 2001, with the generous support of lead sponsor Ammon Labs.
Donations in honor of the awardees and ticket purchases can be made online at https://facesandvoicesofrecovery.org/news-events/america-honors-recovery-dc.html. Charitable contributions support Faces & Voices of Recovery’s efforts to eliminate the stigma of addiction and make recovery possible for even more Americans.
ABOUT FACES & VOICES OF RECOVERY
Faces & Voices of Recovery, located in Washington, D.C., is organizing the over 23 million Americans in recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs, their families, friends and allies in a campaign to end discrimination, broaden social understanding, and achieve a just response to addiction as a public health crisis. For more information, visit http://www.facesandvoicesofrecovery.org.
ABOUT AMMON LABS
Ammon Labs, based in Linden, New Jersey, is an industry-leading, College of American Pathologists (CAP) accredited, full-service toxicology lab providing quality services and competitive pricing for the testing and detection of substance misuse since 1998. For more information visit http://ammonlabs.com.
Contact
Patty McCarthy Metcalf
Executive Director
Faces & Voices of Recovery
202-737-0690
info(At)facesandvoicesofrecovery.org
Patty McCarthy Metcalf, Faces & Voices of Recovery, http://www.facesandvoicesofrecovery.org., +1 202-737-0690, [email protected]
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