What:
Introduction to a Vital Community Outreach Ministry – Harm Reduction/Opiod Community Impact & Ministry Needs
When:
October 24, 2023 at 6:00 PM
Where:
Open Table Fellowship Hall
CONTACT:
Rev. Sarah Majors (Open Table UMC) smajors@nccumc.org
The Council of Churches seeks to further engage churches in this conversation as we are community spaces, places of healing, and can help alleviate stigma around substance use disorders. Realistically, we may also be where someone who needs naloxone finds themselves.
Open Table UMC invites UMC clergy/or a representative to join us at Open Table in the Fellowship Hall on October 24 at 6 PM to hear from the NC Council of Churches State Opioid Coordinator, representatives from the NC Harm Reduction Coalition, and Wake Monarch Academy (the triangle’s only recovery high school, located within the walls of Open Table).
Dinner will be provided beginning at 5:30 (Please RSVP to Sarah if you plan to attend for a count). The workshop will offer education about the opioid crisis, show statistics, highlight the local impact of the opioid crisis, share local resources, and train those present on how to use naloxone.
I (Sarah), like many of us, have experienced the effects of the opioid crisis firsthand in my personal life. I would love for harm reduction to become a regular conversation within the walls of our churches and for naloxone to be a staple in each of our first aid kits. Please join us if you are able!
Open Table UMC is a worshipping community of various folks with different life experiences and backgrounds, many of whom are actively in recovery or supporting someone in recovery. Outside of our worshipping community, we also house four non-profits, two dedicated to caring for those struggling with substance use disorders. As our community has had more conversations about how we as a church can better serve our non-profit partners and neighbors, we have discerned together a need to be better educated about the opioid crisis, offer safe needle disposal in our facility, learn harm reduction strategies, and have naloxone in our first aid kit (a life-saving medication that can be given to someone experiencing an overdose).