Suffolk County to host forum on addiction and recovery
Sharon Richmond, center, a victim's advocate and vice chair of the Women's Advisory Commission, holds up a picture of her son, Vincent, who died of an overdose, as she speaks at a news conference Friday. Credit: Elizabeth Sagarin
Suffolk County will convene a panel of experts on addiction and recovery as part of a forum Wednesday to kick off National Recovery Month.
The event, titled "Recovery is Real," is from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the H. Lee Dennison Building in Hauppauge.
Visitors will be encouraged to look through resources in rooms that focus on wellness, prevention, services, treatment, housing and posttreatment recovery.
Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine said that while there’s encouraging news on the recent decline of opioid-related deaths in the county, more work remains, in particular to support those in recovery.
"We are in this fight to win it," he said at a news conference Friday.
The forum will be held in partnership with the county’s Office of Women’s Services and its Women’s Advisory Commission as well as the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence.
Registration is required and can be done at licadd.org. More information is available by calling 516-747-2606.
Three featured speakers will present at the event: Sylvia Diaz, the deputy county executive for health, human services and education; Anthony Rizzuto, director of provider relations for Seafield Center, which provides rehabilitation services; and Jason Byron, an emergency medical service officer with the Suffolk County Police Department to provide Narcan training.
A full agenda will be available for participants on the morning of the event, according to Stacey Ann Caggiano, director of the county's Office of Women’s Services.
The event is open to all and the county is placing an emphasis on women who struggle with substance abuse and how challenges like childcare and family caregiving affect those struggles.
About 23 million Americans are living in sustained recovery, Rizzuto said.
"Addiction doesn't necessarily have to be a death sentence," he said.
National Recovery Month was founded in 1989. In 2023, the Suffolk Legislature approved a resolution to designate September as Recovery Month in Suffolk.
Joe Werkmeister joined Newsday in 2022 and covers Suffolk County government and politics. He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and previously worked as the editor of two North Fork community newspapers.
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