MEDIA ADVISORY:

Mental Health PEER Connection to hold press conference on intense outreach to help addicts BY recovering addicts and family members

In an attempt to reach more addicts of opioids and other substances -- and their friends and relatives -- where they live, Mental Health Peer Connection (MHPC) is beginning a far-ranging media campaign to inform the public about its Addict 2 Addict, Family 2 Family (A2A;F2F) program.  This effort differs from other opioid crisis outreaches, in that A2A;F2F has recruited recovering addicts to offer help to still struggling addicts who have decided they want to work towards their own recovery, and also the family members of addicts to counsel their peers on the best ways to support relatives who are in the grip of opioids and other addictive substances.  Who would know their needs better?

Full details on this endeavor to reach the public's attention will be announced at a press conference, 10:00 AM on Wednesday November 8, 2017, to be held at the center Atrium of Western New York Independent Living, Inc. at 3108 Main Street, near Highgate Avenue in Buffalo's University District.  The Commissioner of the Erie County Department of Mental Health, Michael Ranney, CRC-R, LMHC, has been invited to the campaign kickoff. (Enter the off-street parking lot between the Jim's Steakout sandwich shop and 4 M Motor Sales; go to the Atrium in the middle of the complex on the north side of the lot.)

In 2016, MHPC had a small publicity campaign, encouraging addicts to contact the A2A;F2F hotline; starting November 8th, it will be hugely expanded to reach more age groups.  In addition to paid announcements on television and radio, it will employ more digital avenues such as website display ads, and, for the next twelve months, "search engine marketing" on cable company websites and elsewhere, making our information pop up under the search results for dozens of keywords concerning drugs, drug paraphernalia, addiction, recovery, rehabilitation, and so on. In November and December, tens of thousands of ads will precede streaming movies and TV series on a variety of digital platforms, such as Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Crackle, Xbox One, PlayStation, and Apple TV.

In a more traditional in-person setting, an integral part of this outreach continues to be monthly get-to-know-you “HELLO” (Helping Every Life Live On) Peer Family Support Groups, which are held in North Buffalo, South Buffalo, Cheektowaga, Hamburg, and Akron, to introduce the community to its innovative peer approach.

More information is available by calling Gretchen Vinson at (716) 836-0822, extension 135. 

Mental Health PEER Connection is a member of the Western New York Independent Living, Inc. family of agencies that offer an expanding array of services to aid individuals with disabilities to take control of their own lives.