Here’s to hope as National Recovery Month begins.

Each of us probably knows someone close to us in recovery. It may even be ourselves. An estimated 11 percent of U.S. adults are in recovery from some type of substance, about 27.5 million people, according to the Recovery Research Institute.

Pam Marino here, at the start of National Recovery Month and on the eve of the Day of Hope, which is celebrated across the country on Saturday, Sept. 6.

The day is going to be celebrated for the first time here in Monterey County from noon to 3pm at three locations in Salinas and King City, hosted in partnership between Community Human Services, Sun Street Centers and Valley Health Associates. 

Robin McCrae, CEO of CHS, says the three nonprofit agencies are separate, but all work with the same goals to treat people with substance use disorders and help them get into recovery. 

“We’re all very highly collaborative, we all have a heart for the work that we do,” she says. It made sense to come together to share the message with the community that treatment works and recovery is possible, she adds.

Each organization is doing something a little different to celebrate the Day of Hope, but at the heart of it is the “Tree of Hope,” a symbol of encouragement and support from those in recovery.

All locations will have a tree made of paper and cardboard and participants will be invited to write encouraging messages on leaves that will hang from each tree. In the end the three trees will create a “Forest of Hope,” described as “a living symbol of resilience, healing and unity.”

At CHS’ celebration, held at its Off Main Clinic (at 1083 S. Main St. in Salinas), they’ll be serving up street tacos, along with hosting a lowrider car and motorcycle show by the Aztec Legacy Lowriders and One Brotherhood Motorcycle Club. There will also be speakers with lived experience sharing their stories of recovery, plus a free Narcan distribution.

Also in Salinas, Valley Health Associates (located at 913 Blanco Circle) will feature food trucks, a DJ, photo booth and art and gardening activities. At the Sun Street Centers King City Campus (641 Broadway St.), they’ll have storytelling, art therapy workshops and financial literacy classes.

Together, the three agencies served more than 10,000 locals facing substance abuse challenges over the last year. McCrae says the good news is less people are dying from overdoses, which shows that community outreach efforts, education and Narcan distributions are working.

It’s also good news that more people are seeking treatment, but, McCrae acknowledges, it’s a bit of good news/bad news since the demand for treatment remains steady.

In related news, CHS is officially opening its new adolescent drug treatment program with a ribbon cutting ceremony and open house. (That takes place at 4:30-6pm, Tuesday, Sept. 9, located at 2511 Garden Road, Suite A165, Monterey.) It’s an outpatient program for teens ages 13-17. They accept Medi-Cal.

So here’s to hope, the hope that more people get into recovery and stay there, and the hope that community education efforts one day reduces the number of people who even need treatment in the first place. 

More information on where to find help for substance use treatment is available by calling 211. There are a plethora of options locally.