Community in Crisis Receives Funding from the Margaret A. Darrin

BERNARDSVILLE, NJ. OCTOBER 10, 2019. Community in Crisis (CIC), based in Bernardsville, NJ, is excited to announce funding of $100,000 for three years, a gift from the Margaret A. Darrin Charitable Trust to increase CIC’s focus on providing support programs and services to the recovery community.

The new funding will enable CIC to hire a recovery support director who will focus efforts on growing programs and support services to individuals in recovery. In addition to yoga, family and grief support groups, cooking classes, monthly acoustic coffeehouses, A.A., D.A.A. and Noble Steps meetings that are already in place, CIC will seek to expand its offering of social, active and therapeutic sober events and programs. The recovery support director will also engage in direct outreach to treatment and rehabilitation providers to raise awareness of CIC’s offerings that better support individuals in their journey of recovery.

Andi Williams, Executive Director, Community Outreach and Development, commented, “With relapse rates so high, CIC is determined to fill a huge hole in recovery and sobriety support. When individuals leave treatment, they can find themselves isolated and lonely. We hope to ease their transition back into their environment with social connection and volunteer opportunities but surrounded by friends and family who love and support them. Johann Hari, author of the New York Times best-selling book Chasing The Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs who has been exploring the true cause of addiction that he believes is largely misunderstood, says ‘The opposite of addiction is not sobriety. The opposite of addiction is connection.’ Funding like this gives us an opportunity to make that connection. We’re at an incredibly exciting time in our mission that allows CIC to deliver on one of its key goals to help decrease relapse rates.”

Michael Hanifin, trustee of the Margaret A. Darrin Charitable Trust, added, “It is the primary mission of the Margaret A. Darrin Charitable Trust to empower and transform the lives of individuals facing extraordinary adverse circumstances. We are proud to be partnering with Community in Crisis in their important mission of helping those recovering from addiction.”

Community in Crisis began in 2013 following the overdose deaths of two young adults in the Somerset Hills community. The organization, a coalition of community agencies, organizations, schools, churches and concerned citizens, offers bi-weekly support groups for families struggling with addiction, innovative educational opportunities in the school environment, medicine take-back days, town hall meetings, and more. Additionally, Rutgers Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy and the Horizon Foundation have partnered with Community in Crisis to produce and scale out an evidence-based community toolkit for implementation by communities across NJ.

For more information or to get involved, please contact Community in Crisis at info@communityincrisis.org or go to www.communityincrisis.org.