Recovery Month 2022 Community Events and Initiatives

Camden County: An inaugural Camden-based community event series, “The Practices of Healing and Hope,” will launch on Thursday, September 15, 2022, and run through Thursday, May 18, 2023, at Camden County College’s Camden campus in partnership with the Cooper Center for Healing, Cooper Family Medicine, and other community partners. The kickoff event on September 15 will feature Kaitlan Baston, MD, DFASAM, Center for Healing Head and Medical Director of Addiction Medicine and Government Relations at Cooper and Iris Jones, LPC, LCADC, NCC, CCS, Clinical Operations Manager and Therapist at the Center for Healing, who will both discuss the history of substance use disorder (SUD) treatment, pervasive systemic racism that has led to unjust disparities in care, and how communities can work together to not repeat the past and to ensure everyone possesses the knowledge they need to advocate for the treatments they deserve. Other topics covered by community partners during the fall, winter, and spring events will focus on grief, neurodiversity, disabilities, psychology, blues music, spirituality, poetry, and mindfulness and self-compassion (featuring Program Director for Family Medicine Residency at Cooper, Maya Bass, MD, FAAFP). To learn more and register for an event(s), please click here.

Salem County: On Fridays in September, the Salem County Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) will celebrate people living with SUD and share stories of strength and hope on the DMHAS Facebook Page to show that recovery is possible. To submit your story, please contact Victoria Maurizio, Director of the Salem County DMHAS, at victoria.maurizio@salemcountynj.gov or 856.935.7510, extension 8449.

Statewide: On Wednesday, September 21, 2022, NJ DMHAS will host “Virtual Opioid Summit 2022: The Evolving Opioid Crisis: A Collaborative Approach.” Please save the date and join the Center for Healing team during this summit. Rachel Haroz, MD, FAACT, Division Head of Toxicology and Addiction Medicine at Cooper and Community Relations Director for the Center for Healing, and Gerard Carroll, MD, FAAEM, EMT–P, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Medical Director and Division Head of EMS and Disaster Medicine at Cooper, and Program Director for the Cooper EMS Fellowship Program, will present on key statewide work to address and overcome the overdose crisis, with focus on Cooper’s Buprenorphine Field Initiation of ReScue Treatment (Bupe FIRST EMS) Program. To learn more and register for the summit, please click here.

For more information about substance dependence and substance use disorder, please click here.

For more information about the Cooper Center for Healing, please click here.