SAMHSA-Sponsored Community Forums/Events
SAMHSA sponsored a total of 59 community forums/events that reached a total of 64,590
people throughout the nation in 2006. As in past years, forums/events included an emphasis on multicultural populations.
The SAMHSA-sponsored community forums/events began and/or continued a community discussion on substance use disorder recovery and established a community environment supporting treatment programs that help individuals reclaim their lives. SAMHSA helped highlight three major areas for improvement: improving the assessment and referral of people in need to treatment services; providing greater access to personalized treatment programs; and continuing to increase the availability of treatment services. Community events addressed local community issues and defined specific objectives and action steps to broaden support and access for individuals in recovery, their families, and friends.
Cities that hosted official SAMHSA-sponsored Recovery Month 2006 community forums or other events included:
- Alexandria, VA
- Arvada, CO
- Belmar, NJ
- Bismarck, VT
- Boca Raton, FL
- Boise, ID
- Burbank, CA
- Cape Cod, MA
- Cascade County, MT
- Charles Town, WV
- Chattanooga, TN
- Columbia, SC
- Davie, FL
- Des Moines, IA
- Dover, DE
- Duluth, MN
- Estero, FL
- Fargo, ND
- Florence, SC
- Fort Lauderdale, FL
- Fort Myers, FL
- Garden City, NY
- Great Falls, MT
- Harrisburg, PA
- Hartford, CT
- Hato Rey, Puerto Rico
- Hollywood, FL
- Houston, TX
- Inverness, FL
- Jackson, MS
- Jersey City, NJ
- Juneau, AK
- Lakeville, MN
- Los Cerritos, CA
- Maili Beach Park, HI
- Manchester, NH
- Martinsburg, WV
- Minneapolis, MN
- Mora, MN
- Naples, FL
- Nashville, TN
- Nenana, AK
- Newport Beach, CA
- Olathe, CT
- Olgilvie, MN
- Philadelphia, PA
- Port Charlotte, FL
- Richmond, VA
- Rock Hill, SC
- Rockville, MD
- Salt Lake City, UT
- Santa Ana, CA
- Shepards Town, WV
- Springfield, IL
- Torrance, CA
- Tucson, AZ
- Washington, D.C.
- Wisconsin
Working closely with partners in major cities across the country, SAMHSA sponsored 21 community forums/events where individuals in recovery, experts, and legislators discussed local addiction treatment issues. The combined estimated attendance for all 21 events was 24,615, a 100 percent increase over 2005 attendance figures. These events were extremely successful and included a variety of activities such as: recovery walks; festivals; freedom rallies; information and entertainment forums; health fairs; and art forums.
SAMHSA also sponsored 22 minority focused events that reached 10,635 people. Some of these events included: Recovery Celebratory Rally/Barbeque, Rally/Church Service, Teen Challenge Celebratory Rally/Church Service, "Hands Across the State", and "Stories from the Heart" Traveling Exhibit.
For the second year in a row, SAMHSA sponsored state-wide recovery rides in California, Ohio, and New England, that reached 330 people. Highlights of these events included family festivals, live entertainment and speeches by local public officials.
Locally Sponsored Community Events
As of October 2006, 49 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico held 665 events in 388 cities, an increase of 30.9 percent over 2005 Recovery Month events, reaching almost 4 million (3,876,828) people-this includes the SAMHSA-sponsored local community events.
As part of the official Recovery Month Web site at www.recoverymonth.gov, community organizers were encouraged to list their local events and activities in order to promote these local community events and inspire more participation. These events are recognized on the events list page, which was configured as a map of the United States, so viewers could click directly on a state or select it from a drop down menu to view the events that took place in each state, nationwide.
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