West Palm Beach, FL – September is National Recovery Month. The Hanley Foundation, a statewide leader in substance use prevention, education, and advocacy for access to quality treatment, presents Project COPE, (Connect for Overdose Prevention and Education), a program designed to connect families who share the experience of a loved one who has died of opioid overdose, survived an overdose, or are at high risk for overdose. Palm Beach County leads the state in opioid-related overdose deaths, with more than 600 recorded in 2017 alone and more than 5,000 opioid overdoses recorded in 2016. Project COPE provides an opportunity for individuals and families to express their needs and wants around the topic of an opioid overdose. The meetings are free and open to the public with advance reservation; use this link to RSVP to attend any forum.
Families and individuals in the opioid crisis from across Palm Beach County are invited to connect at the following locations, on the days indicated, from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. each evening:
- 1st Thursday of each month: Oceanview United Methodist Church, 701 Ocean Drive, Juno Beach
- 2nd Thursday of each month: St. Michael Lutheran Church, 1925 Birkdale Drive, Wellington
- 3rd Thursday of each month: The Community Center, 50 N.W. 1st Avenue, Delray Beach
- 4th Thursday of each month: Hanley Foundation, 700 South Dixie Highway, Suite 103, West Palm Beach
Project COPE sessions offer a safe place for families and individuals to discuss overdose prevention and topics of interest. The program is presented by Hanley Foundation’s Director of Education, Barbara Shafer, and funded through a grant from Palm Beach County and the Southeast Florida Behavioral Health Network and the Satter Foundation.
“We understand that the individual who has experienced an overdose is not the only one who has endured a traumatic event,” said Jan Cairnes, CEO of Hanley Foundation. “Family members often feel judged or inadequate because they could not prevent their loved one’s overdose. It is important for the community and families to work together to obtain support following an overdose, or education on preventing a future overdose.”
For more information about Project COPE, please visit www.hanleyfoundation.org/project-c4ope/ or call (561) 268-2355.
About Hanley Foundation:
In the early 1980s, Mary Jane and Jack Hanley retired to Palm Beach County to discover the absence of any facilities dedicated to quality substance abuse treatment. Through the couple’s visionary leadership and great support from the community, Hanley Center and the Hanley Center Foundation were established. Nearly 40 years later and now expanded throughout Florida, the community continues to recognize the stand-alone Hanley Foundation with great support for its thought leadership, grantmaking, and evidence-based programming. The charitable 501(c)(3) organization provides statewide resources for substance use disorder advocacy, education and access to quality treatment. The organization’s prevention programming is available to schools, churches and community groups through grant funding provided by the Florida Department of Children and Families, Office of Substance Abuse and Mental Health. With your support, the Hanley Foundation is taking critical steps to change the conversation around substance use disorders.
