Local faith leaders and prevention specialists will join forces this weekend to educate residents on addiction trends and overdose reversal during a special community event.
Wright’s Chapel United Methodist Church Pastor Diantha McLeod organized the gathering after connecting with local agencies through her work on the executive board of the NAACP of Putnam County. She invited Power Putnam to her congregation to help bridge the gap between available resources and the families who need them most.
“My goal is to have people understand what like for this particular setting on Saturday, is to understand about substance abuse and what’s in our community and how we can help our children, teens, parents, everybody understand that we have a part to play in this role in helping others,” McLeod said.
The “Community Speaks” event takes place Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Wright’s Chapel United Methodist Church located at 20 Gibson in Cookeville. McLeod said attendees should park around the church rather than at the neighboring business.
“One of the reasons is because we are faith-based, people assume that we have all the answers,” McLeod said. “People think that you know they can call me and I’m a professional on this subject, but I’m not.”
Power Putnam Coordinator Matteo Huerta said the meeting will feature Regional Overdose Prevention Specialists who can provide training on how to recognize and reverse opioid overdoses. The session also includes information from the Lifeline coordinator regarding treatment services and connection to mental health resources.
“I hope that it impacts them in raising awareness and just showing collaboration across the community as well too because I think that it’s vitally important to involve our faith-based communities because they’re in the community, you know, they’re a staple and they provide so many resources and support to all kinds of people in our community, but sometimes they might not be, you know, you can’t help what you don’t know,” Huerta said. “And if they’ve never had that information presented to ’em, or if they’re unaware of some of the stuff going on in the community, they might not know how they can help.”
Huerta said current challenges in the region include vaping among youth and the presence of fentanyl in counterfeit pills affecting the adult population. He said the goal is to reduce stigma while educating residents on the specific signs and symptoms of addiction.
“I just want to make sure that people understand it could happen to anybody’s family, but it’s not just a family thing,” McLeod said. “It really is a community effort to help.”
Huerta said those seeking immediate help for mental health or treatment services can contact the Tennessee Redline at 1-800-889-9789.