The Way Out Recovery SCV officials are partnering with the Child & Family Center this month to hold “Voices for Recovery,” a free event centered around help for substance use disorders and mental health issues.

Slated for Sept. 27 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Child & Family Center in Santa Clarita, Voices for Recovery is set to feature a resource fair and panel presentations from both professionals and individuals who will share their own stories of addiction and recovery.

“In drug and alcohol and mental health treatment, it is not a one-size-fits-all,” said Bob Sharits, program director at The Way Out Recovery SCV. “As a person who is in recovery, I need to utilize multiple different resources, and so we have invited a bunch of resources to be there.”

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The organizations expected to appear at the resource fair from 5 to 6 p.m. include the Child & Family Center’s outpatient substance use program and domestic violence program; The Way Out Recovery SCV; College of the Canyons; the Henry Mayo wellness program; Valley Recovery Center; NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness); A Light of Hope; Narcotics Anonymous; and Alcoholics Anonymous.

Then at 6 p.m., an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) is set to open the professional panel presentations by sharing a call they responded to that involved drugs and alcohol, according to Charity Wabuke, program manager at the Child & Family Center.

“I’ve heard some say as much as 80 percent of the calls that paramedics get and first responders get, when they show up, they’re drug- and alcohol-related,” Sharits said. “The perspective of a first responder and the things that they see and the drugs and alcohol that are involved in those calls — that (we) get to hear somebody tell first-hand what that’s like is going to be really, really powerful for us.”

Amy Spahr, clinical director of the men’s residential facility Valley Recovery Center, is also set to be part of the panel, along with Larry Schallert, assistant director of student health and wellness and mental health at College of the Canyons.

“(Spahr) is going to touch on the sort of marriage or mixture of mental health and substance abuse together, because it’s rare to see somebody nowadays who just has pure substance abuse,” said Sharits. “There’s always some kind of — even if it’s only created by the substance abuse — depressions and anxieties and different psychoses and things that are going on.”

Referring to Schallert, Wabuke added, “What’s unique about Larry is he brings a college experience with him, … so his perspective on what’s happening on the campuses and some of the work that he and his team have been doing in response to drugs and alcohol.”

A representative from the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station J-Team, or Juvenile Intervention Team, will round out the professional panel in addition to a psychiatrist who is certified in addiction medicine.

Then five individuals in recovery are set to share their stories as the evening concludes with the “Journey to Recovery” panel.

“All of their stories are so different, and yet the one common theme is drugs and alcohol,” said Wabuke. “Come out, hear the panelists’ stories, encourage them, support them, learn from them, because these are day-to-day individuals and everyone has their own personal story.”

For more information about Voices for Recovery hosted by The Way Out Recovery SCV and the Child & Family Center, click here.

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The Way Out Recovery SCV – Santa Clarita

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