Featured photo: Participants stand in front of city hall during the walk through downtown Flint.
Written by Tanya Terry
Nearly 92,000 persons in the U.S. died from drug-involved overdose in 2020, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. In addition, the National Conference of State Legislatures states in the United States, drug overdose death rates more than tripled since 1990. In fact, the NCSL website says more than 100 people die from drug overdoses each day.
In 2021, Serenity House, a local recovery community organization, served 1,259 people. Serenity House is one of about 140 recovery community organizations across the nation.
Tara Moreno-Wallen, founder and executive director of Serenity House Communities, recently talked to the Courier about an event intended to reduce instances of overdose in the Flint and Genesee County community, with a focus on total healing.
“With COVID, we did see an increase nationally with overdoses,” Moreno-Wallen said. “With the opioid epidemic, we saw a rise in medication, people being prescribed opioids…”
There was also a rise in the prescribing of drugs like Klonopin and Xanax, according to Moreno-Wallen.
“People were getting pain medication and many people went from the pills to heroin,” she added. “You hear about a lot of people who had surgeries. They were medicated. Then they couldn’t get their medication, and then they started taking heroin.”
Moreno-Wallen said the word “addict” is not used at Serenity House because it’s considered a label and considered to limit people.
“What we say is a person with addiction, or a person with trauma or an issue. But we never own a disease. That’s something I’ve learned through my holistic practice. At Serenity House, we’re a recovery community organization. What that means is that we don’t provide treatment. But we provide support, maybe after treatment. Maybe you don’t need treatment and you just want to belong to a community and be part of rebuilding your life with new ways to stay sober, new ways to heal-things of that nature.”
Moreno-Wallen is in long-term recovery herself. Most of the people who work for Serenity House are in recovery as well.
Moreno-Wallen spent 20 days in rehab in 2007 and started a 12-step program after that for about five years. Then, she moved into holistic recoveries-which address the mind, body and spirit using methods such as acupuncture or yoga.
“A lot of people we see in rehab are going up to 20 times and they still can’t get it. For me, it’s a multi-layer issue, and I know that sometimes when we don’t talk about our recovery or we hide it-it makes it a lot more difficult to heal.”
About eight years ago, Moreno-Wallen started the Annual Recovery Walk & Rally, an event about reducing the shame associated with recovery, after finding out many surrounding cities were having similar events.
This year, the event takes place starting at 1 p.m. September 24. The keynote speaker at the event will be Shelley McFarlane. Rep. John Cherry, Tommy “Gunz” Kraus and Pat Patterson will also be in attendance. The MC will be Chris O’Droski. Patterson is the executive director of BW Roc Blue Water Recovery and Outreach Center in St. Clair County. Kraus is a recovery coach, musician and rapper from the Detroit area. O’Droski is also a musician who is in recovery. McFarlane is an attorney is the local area that advocates for people in recovery. In addition, Moreno-Wallen has been meeting with Cherry about recovery community organizations and funding them at the state and county level. Moreno-Wallen explained most of the places housing people with addictions are treatment centers.
“We are a bridge between treatment and life-getting people back into living their lives without drugs and alcohol, without those relationships that are hurting them.”
Free lunch will be provided at the Recovery Walk & Rally at 1 p.m. There will be a bounce house for the children. Gift card giveaways will also take place. In addition, a remembrance ceremony will be held for those who lost loved ones due to overdose. For this ceremony, people write the names of the loved ones they lost to addiction and a bell is rang after each name. According to Moreno-Wallen, it’s a time to honor those who have died and to deal with grief.
“The event every year has so much hope and healing…It’s just really beautiful to see people get a spark that recovery is possible. It may be hard in the beginning, but the outcome is incredible…Our city has been through a lot together and if we set the intention to heal, there’s a lot of powerful things that can happen.”
For details or to register for the 8th Annual Recovery Walk & Rally, click here: 8th Annual Recovery Walk & Rally 2022 Tickets, Sat, Sep 24, 2022 at 1:00 PM | Eventbrite
