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Recognizing September as National Recovery Month in Philadelphia and celebrating the 21st Annual PRO-ACT Recovery Walks! to promote recovery and work to end the stigma surrounding drug and alcohol addiction.
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WHEREAS, September 2022 marks the 33rd Annual National Recovery Month. This month celebrates the gains people with mental and/or substance use disorders have made towards living healthy and rewarding lives by utilizing substance use treatment and mental health services. The 2022 National Recovery Month theme is "Recovery is for Everyone. Every Person. Every Family. Every Community" which reminds people in recovery and those who support them that no one is alone in the journey through recovery; and
WHEREAS, According to National Institute of Mental Health, nearly 50 million U.S. adults live with a mental illness. Meanwhile, 37.3 million Americans aged 12 or older have a substance use disorder. Of these, 9.5 million American adults have co-occurring mental and substance use disorders; and
WHEREAS, In 2021, drug overdoses killed 1,274 Philadelphians. According to the Department of Health, over 80% of overdose fatalities involved opioids, a class of drugs that include pharmaceutical opioids, heroin, and fentanyl, a strong synthetic opioid that is the main driver of fatal overdoses. While fentanyl was involved in less than 10% of drug overdose deaths in Philadelphia in 2010, it was involved in 81% of all drug overdose deaths in 2020; and
WHEREAS, Millions of Americans have transformed their lives through recovery. Each September, tens of thousands of prevention, treatment, and recovery programs and facilities celebrate the accomplishments made by those who have sought treatment. Locally, the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services provides a wide range of recovery support services and resources, with oversight of 55 provider agencies operating 112 locations; and
WHEREAS, In Philadelphia, the Recovery Walks! has a st...
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