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MOBILIZE RECOVERY ACROSS GEORGIA

EDUCATING - MOTIVATING - CELEBRATING - ENGAGING - MOBILIZING

From 2019 to 2021, drug overdose deaths in the state of Georgia increased by 55.9 percent, driven in no small part by the continued and tragic rise of opioid overdose deaths. Georgia is simply a snapshot of a nationwide epidemic that affects countless lives, families and communities each year.

Those who are impacted by such a disease know that addiction affects everyone who is close to the struggling individual – parents, children, spouses, coworkers, fellow members of their place of worship. It can often take a community to help someone into recovery, including doctors, spiritual leaders, family members, and mental health professionals.

So, in September 2023, The Clinton Foundation’s Overdose Response Network is launching Mobilize Recovery Across Georgia, a travelling bus tour that will cross the state of Georgia during National Recovery Month. Over 800,000 Georgians are living in long-term recovery from a substance use disorder and Mobilize Recovery Across Georgia is designed to bring those Georgians together to celebrate recovery, educate individuals on harm reduction and recovery resources, and connect members of the community. This engaging and uplifting bus tour is designed to bring together Georgia policy makers, local officials, and the 800,000-strong recovering Georgians.

MEETING PEOPLE WHERE THEY’RE AT

Throughout the statewide tour, Mobilize Recovery Across Georgia will educate, motivate and mobilize communities to take ownership of their recovery trajectories and work together. Working with each individual community, the Clinton Foundation will take the message of hope and recovery to Georgia communities by:

Putting on recovery rallies at each major tour stop, featuring live music by our Mobilize Recovery Across Georgia House Band and local catered cuisine

Offering overdose prevention education and training

Providing a space in which policymakers can be engaged in listening sessions with residents in their hometowns

Presenting powerful testimonials by recognizable individuals in recovery from a substance use disorder and/or other mental health challenges

Making stops in smaller towns with strong recovery communities, presenting opportunities for proclamations by local officials

Visiting local places of worship and sharing the message of recovery alongside local faith leaders

Distributing Naloxone nasal spray to recovery community organizations and community-based organizations

Visiting collegiate recovery communities on major university campuses

WEAVING THE FABRIC OF COMMUNITIES TOGETHER

Mobilize Recovery Across Georgia will not be a members-only club meeting for individuals in long term recovery. This tour is designed to connect to connect communities and is based around bringing people together. At each stop, the Overdose Response Network, with support from the Georgia Council on Substance Abuse, will connect members of the community together in order to educate, inform, and communicate:

Professionals from treatment facilities

Local law enforcement
Families and allies of people in recovery
Local media outlets
Faith leaders
Policy makers and state representatives
Local businesses
Collegiate Recovery Communities

Even with addiction affecting the lives of countless families and communities, there are many within each community who lack the resources to help those who are struggling. Not everyone knows where to receive Narcan training, or where to send a loved one with a drug problem, or even where their local recovery community is. Mobilize Recovery Across Georgia wants to fill in those gaps, all while raising awareness and celebrating recovery across an entire state.

Mobilize Recovery Across Georgia will galvanize communities across the state to learn innovative strategies and tactics for grassroots organizing and recovery solutions. This tour will knit communities across the state together and ensure that they are connected with other recovery leaders, advocates, and grassroots allies. If successful, Mobilize Recovery Across Georgia will make sure that Georgians gain access to new tools, and streamline their organizing and advocacy work to end addiction and inspire ongoing recovery in their communities.

BUS TOUR EVENT SCHEDULE

SATURDAY: 9/2
EVENT: SAVANNAH
SUNDAY: 9/3
EVENT: ST. SIMONS ISLAND
TUESDAY: 9/5
EVENT: VALDOSTA
WEDNESDAY 9/6
EVENT: TIFTON
THURSDAY 9/7
EVENT: ALBANY: RECOVERY IN THE STREETS
FRIDAY 9/8
EVENT: COLUMBUS
SATURDAY 9/9
EVENT: MACON
MONDAY 9/11:
EVENT: DUBLIN,GA
TUESDAY 9/12:
EVENT: STATESBORO,GA
WEDNESDAY 9/13
EVENT: AUGUSTA,GA
THURSDAY 9/14
EVENT: ATHENS,GA
FRIDAY 9/15
EVENT: JEFFERSON,GA
SATURDAY 9/16
EVENT: KENNESAW ,GA(AM); EVENT: CARTERSVILLE,GA (PM)
SUNDAY 9/17
EVENT: DUNWOODY,GA
MONDAY 9/18
EVENT: ROME,GA
TUESDAY 9/19
EVENT: BUCHANAN*,GA
WEDNESDAY 9/20
EVENT: NEWNAN,GA
THURSDAY 9/21
EVENT: GAINESVILLE,GA (PM)
FRIDAY 9/22
EVENT: CANTON,GA
SATURDAY 9/23
EVENT: ATLANTA,GA (11:30 AM)

For more information on the Overdose Response Network’s Mobilize Recovery Across Georgia bus tour, please contact tkohler@clintonfoundation.org.