Advertisement
Carroll County Times
Carroll County News

Carroll works to ‘Make Recovery the Epidemic’

Carroll County Times
•

Thank you for supporting our journalism. This article is available exclusively for our subscribers, who help fund our work at The Baltimore Sun.

The Carroll County Health Department hosted a free community education program Wednesday at Carroll Community College focused on addiction issues and the community’s response to them.

Attendees at the “Make Recovery the Epidemic” event watched a screening of “Tipping the Pain Scale,” a documentary film about “grappling with the current systemic failures of how we have dealt with addiction in communities and their journey to develop and employ new and innovative solutions to the problem.”

Advertisement

The film features the story of Roz Pichardo, a community outreach volunteer, who attended the Wednesday session along with Brandee Izquierdo, executive director of SAFE Project, a group that works to “prevent fatal drug overdoses, and to otherwise mitigate substance use disorder’s impact on our society,” according to its website. Both spoke after the film and Izquierdo moderated a panel discussion.

Also during the event Westminster Police Chief Thomas Ledwell accepted the Harm Reduction Hero Award on behalf of his department. Westminster police were honored for their implementation of the Quick Response Team and the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion programs. The QRT consists of a case manager and a peer recovery specialist who respond to overdose calls to instantly connect victims of overdose with resources. LEAD is a community-based harm reduction program that is focused on reducing unnecessary justice system involvement for people with behavioral health and substance abuse issues using social workers and peers alongside or instead of law enforcement officers. Both programs focus on reducing harm and guiding individuals on the path to addiction recovery.

Guest listen to a panel discussion during the Make Recovery the Epidemic Community Solutions Conference at Carroll Community College on Wednesday, September 21, 2022.

Guest listen to a panel discussion during the Make Recovery the Epidemic Community Solutions Conference at Carroll Community College on Wednesday, September 21, 2022. (Brian Krista/Carroll County Times)

Roz Pichardo, a harm reduction activist from Philadelphia, reads some of the names/stories in a small Bible containing over one thousand of her attempts, not all successful, to reverse drug overdoses, while addressing the guests during the Make Recovery the Epidemic Community Solutions Conference at Carroll Community College on Wednesday, September 21, 2022.

Roz Pichardo, a harm reduction activist from Philadelphia, reads some of the names/stories in a small Bible containing over one thousand of her attempts, not all successful, to reverse drug overdoses, while addressing the guests during the Make Recovery the Epidemic Community Solutions Conference at Carroll Community College on Wednesday, September 21, 2022. (Brian Krista/Carroll County Times)

Members of the Westminster Police Department, from left, Capt. Jeffrey Schuster, Capt. Nikki Heuer, Quick Response Team members Ron Brodie, and Brooke Sisson and Chief of Police Thomas Ledwell, pose with their group award, the Harm Reduction Hero Award 2022 during the Make Recovery the Epidemic Community Solutions Conference at Carroll Community College on Wednesday, September 21, 2022. Ledwell and the Westminster Police Department were honored for their implementation of their Quick Response Team, which focus their attention to aiding officers and victims in the overdose responses and the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) with socials workers and peers allowing law enforcement to divert individuals from arrest, with both programs focus to reduce harm and guide individuals in the correct path to addiction recovery.

Members of the Westminster Police Department, from left, Capt. Jeffrey Schuster, Capt. Nikki Heuer, Quick Response Team members Ron Brodie, and Brooke Sisson and Chief of Police Thomas Ledwell, pose with their group award, the Harm Reduction Hero Award 2022 during the Make Recovery the Epidemic Community Solutions Conference at Carroll Community College on Wednesday, September 21, 2022. Ledwell and the Westminster Police Department were honored for their implementation of their Quick Response Team, which focus their attention to aiding officers and victims in the overdose responses and the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) with socials workers and peers allowing law enforcement to divert individuals from arrest, with both programs focus to reduce harm and guide individuals in the correct path to addiction recovery. (Brian Krista/Carroll County Times)

Thomas Ledwell, Chief of the Westminster Police Department was awarded the individual Harm Reduction Hero Award 2022 during the Make Recovery the Epidemic Community Solutions Conference at Carroll Community College on Wednesday, September 21, 2022. Ledwell and the Westminster Police Department were honored for their implementation of their Quick Response Team, which focus their attention to aiding officers and victims in the overdose responses and the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) with socials workers and peers allowing law enforcement to divert individuals from arrest, with both programs focus to reduce harm and guide individuals in the correct path to addiction recovery.

Thomas Ledwell, Chief of the Westminster Police Department was awarded the individual Harm Reduction Hero Award 2022 during the Make Recovery the Epidemic Community Solutions Conference at Carroll Community College on Wednesday, September 21, 2022. Ledwell and the Westminster Police Department were honored for their implementation of their Quick Response Team, which focus their attention to aiding officers and victims in the overdose responses and the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) with socials workers and peers allowing law enforcement to divert individuals from arrest, with both programs focus to reduce harm and guide individuals in the correct path to addiction recovery. (Brian Krista/Carroll County Times)

Harm Reduction Hero Award 2022, presented to the Westminster Police Department by the Health Department's Opioid Prevention Coalition, during the Make Recovery the Epidemic Community Solutions Conference at Carroll Community College on Wednesday, September 21, 2022. Ledwell and the Westminster Police Department were honored for their implementation of their Quick Response Team, which focus their attention to aiding officers and victims in the overdose responses and the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) with socials workers and peers allowing law enforcement to divert individuals from arrest, with both programs focus to reduce harm and guide individuals in the correct path to addiction recovery.

Harm Reduction Hero Award 2022, presented to the Westminster Police Department by the Health Department's Opioid Prevention Coalition, during the Make Recovery the Epidemic Community Solutions Conference at Carroll Community College on Wednesday, September 21, 2022. Ledwell and the Westminster Police Department were honored for their implementation of their Quick Response Team, which focus their attention to aiding officers and victims in the overdose responses and the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) with socials workers and peers allowing law enforcement to divert individuals from arrest, with both programs focus to reduce harm and guide individuals in the correct path to addiction recovery. (Brian Krista/Carroll County Times)

Advertisement