Addiction is a public health crisis that stigmatizes people in our communities; treating it like the disease and public health issue it is provides our best chance at fighting it and helping those who are affected by it – both directly and indirectly.

Substance Use Disorder is defined as the recurrent use of alcohol and/or drugs causes clinically significant impairment, including health problems, disability, and failure to meet major responsibilities at work, school, or home.
(Source: Rural Health Institute)

Community projects in this category offer strategies such as advocacy for, education about, or expansion of access to substance use prevention, treatment, and/or recovery.

Examples of Activities:

• Develop and distribute substance use education information to the community
• Partner to provide long-term recovery programming consistently
• Develop a social network for individuals in recovery
• Survey individuals in recovery for community needs