Nonprofit leaders hosting ‘courageous’ conference
Multiple organizations will host a conference to bring together those involved with substance use recovery programs.
The conference, entitled, “Courageous Conversations: A Collective Commitment to Promote and Support Recovery,” will be from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 17 at the Robert M. Smith Student Center at Slippery Rock University.
The event’s organizer is Kayla Rennie of AmeriCorps VISTA, who is assigned to the Institute for Nonprofit Leadership at SRU.
“The goal is to improve recovery in the community and find resources for people,” Rennie said.
The keynote speaker is Dr. Michael Lynch, poison control director at UPMC Pittsburgh, who works in the emergency room in multiple hospitals in the network. Rennie said Lynch also works with drug and alcohol recovery programs.
“As keynote speaker, he gives us a summary idea of the problem,” Rennie said.
The remainder of the day will involve the participants breaking into groups to perform workshop activities and discuss substance use disorder recovery tactics.
The groups will be given hypothetical situations involving people in recovery, and they have to think about the best way to connect that person to the resources that would help them most. In future activities, they will be tasked with looking at improving that continuum of care.
Rennie said her organization partnered with Butler County Human Services' Drug and Alcohol programs’ personnel to create a conference that makes a difference.
“I’m excited about it,” said Donna Jenereski, director of the county’s drug and alcohol programs. “Ultimately, it's about being part of the conversation.”
Jenereski said the conference is open to anyone.
“I would really like the audience to be a diverse population,” Jenereski said. “We want families and people in recovery, too.”
Rennie said the idea for the conference comes from the fragmentation in the area of recovery. She said she hopes everyone can collaborate in a way that can be continued beyond the conference.
“A lot of times, people are in their lane within their own population, and they don't get a chance to communicate with each other,” Rennie said. “Hopefully, if we get together, we can help in better ways and resources can be shared.”
