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���������� Note: Yesterday, tens of thousands of supporters for addiction recovery and for social and political policies that support them packed the National Mall that stretches between the Capitol and the Washington Monument in Washington DC in an historic moment that included a day filled with presentations and performances from a broad range of public officials, leaders, celebrities, families and people in recovery.

Their effort inspires our mental health community to join them next year and to continue to advance plans to hold our own ever growing Destination Dignity events in the coming years. Congratulations to our brothers and sisters in recovery: so many of us are you!

Prepare to be inspired: watch and listen at the links below and after the attached news coverage:

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Touched By Addiction, Thousands Pack The Mall To Say Enough Is Enough

By Faiz Siddiqui�� Washington Post�� October 4, 2015

Kari Rhodes was on her way home from a birthday celebration with friends in Erie, Pa., when she received a frantic phone call from her 17-year-old son. The words on the other end of the line triggered a scream like nothing her husband, Nick, had ever heard.

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“Mom, she’s gone,” Noah Sams said that January night.

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Nick stepped on the gas. They learned their daughter, Deandra Sams, who had long had a heroin addiction, had overdosed. Her sister Shayla, now 12, found the unresponsive 20-year-old in bed Jan. 25, 2014. On her laptop, a song played on a loop: Awolnation’s “Sail,” a song Shayla hasn’t been able to bring herself to play since.

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Noah Sams never got over his sister’s death. Around the time she died, he picked up the same habit. And 18 months later, he too succumbed to addiction.

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“I just feel I failed in so many ways,” Rhodes, 42, said. “From the day they started doing heroin, you saw nothing but doom and gloom. I just feel like I have to stand up for them.”

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On Sunday, the Rhodes family attended a rally on the Mall aimed at eliminating the stigma surrounding addiction and focusing attention on the problem. Addiction, according to Facing Addiction, a nascent organization focused on the cause, is the most urgent health issue facing the country, affecting one in three households and 85 million people nationwide.

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The list of expected speakers at the rally, believed to be the first of its kind, included U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy; Michael Botticelli, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy; and syndicated talk-show host and surgeon Mehmet Oz. Sheryl Crow, the Fray, Steven Tyler and Aloe Blacc were among the performers.

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The rally, which attracted thousands, was a plea to change the rhetoric surrounding addiction and draw needed attention to the issue, said Donald McFarland, communications director for Facing Addiction.

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“That’s why we’re in Washington, D.C., because it is a national health-care crisis,” he said. “The truth of the matter is, ‘just say no’ didn’t work and the war on drugs failed.”

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It was a blustery and overcast day, and the metaphor of gray skies was not lost on attendees. The 360-mile journey was the least her family could do, Rhodes said. They carried signs with photos and messages scrawled on the corners reading “no more” and “heroin equals hell.” They were overcome with emotion; 12-year-old Shayla was stone-faced as she recounted the “horrible” sight of her sister on that night.

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For once, they weren’t alone.

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Mary Peckham, 57, of Halifax, Mass., walked into her son’s bedroom in September 2012 to find him sprawled motionless on his bed. For years, he had suffered from addiction, slamming doors and acting abnormally. This time, she knew, was different.

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Matthew Peckham, 27, was a dirt-biker and a carpenter who had helped friends through addiction but could not overcome his own, his mother said.

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“Even those of us that have lost, we’re still fighting and we still always fight in the memory of our children,” Peckham said.

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Among the stories of loss were stories of renewal. Nico Doorn, 25, overcame a heroin addiction to become a recovery counselor. He said those suffering from addiction, and a physical dependency such as heroin, often are misunderstood. He felt uncomfortable speaking up about his addiction because of the stigma, he said.

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“Something people need to understand is you have morals, you know that it’s wrong — so to speak — and you’re helpless,” said Doorn, who is pursuing a master’s degree in human development counseling at Vanderbilt University.

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“The approach of putting people in jail and showing celebrities who have thrown away their lives isn’t working.”

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Some said there is no magic approach to treating addiction.

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“Just treat them like a human being,” said Amber Latoroco, a detox counselor working in the Philadelphia area. She described the mentality of the patients she sees: “They have no self-esteem, they don’t know how to feel or what to feel, all the bridges are broken and you’re in the gutter. And you’re looking for a way out.”

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Noah and Deandra Sams were looking for theirs. She wanted to be a marine biologist. He wanted to be a detective. Both had been taking classes at Kent State University.

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Ever since her sister’s death, Shayla Rhodes has been quiet and reserved, her parents say. But their daughter’s words from the night of Deandra’s death, when Rhodes sat on the bed with her son in Ashtabula, Ohio, have not left.

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“Mom, it’s okay,” Shayla said. “Sissy’s not in pain anymore.”

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Unite to Face Addiction Rally Draws Thousands to Mall

Garrett W Haake, WUSA 10:42 p.m. EDT October 4, 2015

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WASHINGTON (WUSA9) — Thousands of people rallied to support survivors of a disease which organizers say will impact a third of American households at some point.

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the National Mall was filled on Sunday evening with people rallying for an issue many people used to try to keep secret.

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The Unite to Face Addiction rally brought rockers like Joe Walsh and The Fray to Washington to help fight the stigma that comes with drug and alcohol addiction.

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“I think addicts need to be offered the message of hope more than anything, because that’s what I needed to hear,” explained Laura Geniec, a recovering heroin addict.

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Laura and her mother Marjie Geniec traveled from St. Louis to fortify themselves for Laura’s ongoing recovery from heroin addiction.

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Marjie wanted her daughter see the throngs of normal people, fighting the same demons she struggles with in her nine months sober.

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“I just think there’s a real negative stigma that people have against addicts,” said Marjie.

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The Unite to Face Addiction rally brought rockers like Joe Walsh and The Fray to Washington to help fight the stigma that comes with drug and alcohol addiction.

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Actress Allison Janney was among those pushing back against that stigma. Just last month, Janney took home an Emmy for her portrayal of a mother in recovery from drug addiction on the CBS comedy ‘Mom’.

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“So many lives are touched by addiction and it is a privilege to work on a show that reminds us that there is hope. Lots of hope…,” expressed Janney, who lost her brother in 2011 due to an addiction.

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Her deep relationship with addiction is what made her want to be apart of the show ‘Mom’.

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“It was one of the things that attracted me to it the most because of what I had gone through with my brother and I felt like I was honoring him somehow portraying people in recovery,” Janney explained.

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On the show, Janney’s character attempts her recovery with humor but she knows in reality, it takes much more.

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Janney continued to say, “there are a lot of people out there who are going through the same things so I think it’s important not to isolate or feel that you’re alone, to really get out there and go to an al-anon meeting, go to an AA meeting. Go and be with people who are going through similar things.”

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Organizers of Sunday’s rally say addiction impacts 85 million Americans each year. They want it to be something that everyone is comfortable talking about.

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Families Nation-Wide Unite In D.C. To Face Addiction

There Were 10s Of Thousands On The National Mall To Raise Money For Addiction Treatment

KSDK�� October 5, 2015

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WASHINGTON D.C. – St. Louis families gathered on Capitol Hill to bring awareness to the rising number of drug and alcohol related deaths in this country.

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They gathered with thousands of people in recovery at the first “Unite to Face Addiction” rally. It took place Sunday night on the National Mall.

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Celebrities including Joe Walsh, Dr. Oz, Sheryl Crow and Steven Tyler were also at the rally.

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Organizers want lawmakers to create policies that would lead to better long term substance abuse treatment nationwide.

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Members of the Missouri Recovery Network and the associate executive director of The St. Louis Chapter of NCADA were also at the rally.

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On Monday, more than 500 citizen advocates will also meet with members of Congress as part of Advocacy Day to demand for an effective solution to the addiction crisis.

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