Sometimes, offering grace and hope to those struggling with addiction is a challenge.
Have you known someone struggling with addiction?
As addiction takes hold of the person you know and love, your world is turned upside down.
First, you lose them. That person becomes a stranger to you. Only one thing matters to them and you know there is nothing you can do to help. Now, add to that sense of loss and helplessness the stigma that surrounds addiction and co-occurring mental health issues. It is hard to talk to friends and family about what’s happening. There’s a fear of judgment, misunderstanding, and isolation.
While the conversations and treatments are slowly improving, there is still a lack of empathy and grace for folks fighting drug use disorders. However, it is necessary to acknowledge that every person struggling is someone’s child, parent, sibling, spouse.
After nearly a decade battling an addiction that left her estranged from everyone she loved, Megan Cohen started The GRACE Project with the hope of helping others as a stranger once helped her.
Drug Use Disorder Statistics in PA
We may feel safe here in Bucks and Montgomery Counties but statistics prove that this crisis is hitting our communities just as hard. Dangerous drugs are flooding into our neighborhoods or folks from our neighborhoods are flooding into Kensington and the surrounding areas.
- 293,000 people are living with an active substance use disorder
- Montgomery County 12,379 individuals with drug use disorders
- Bucks County 12,827 individuals with drug use disorders
- PA has the third-highest opioid overdose rate in the U.S.
- Opioids are responsible for 65% of all overdose deaths
Many of our neighbors who are struggling with addiction eventually end up in Kensington and other areas like it. Often, their families stay in the community, hanging on to the hope that they will be able to welcome their loved ones back home. We also hope that this project will lead to more happy endings.
Driving Hope
The GRACE Project aims to bring hope through acts of kindness to children and adults impacted by sickness, poverty, or addiction through three programs. Every Thursday, their Kensington Outreach brings essential supplies to the homeless suffering with drug use disorders. They also help place individuals in treatment and clean up a section of the neighborhood. The GRACE Project is offering grace to all of those struggling with addiction but they are also offering hope to the people who love them.
Through our latest Hope Project – Driving Hope – Sauers Cares will donate a branded vehicle for volunteers to deliver essential supplies, food, and clothing to the unhoused population in Kensington.
You can help us Drive Hope by supporting Sauers Cares as we support The GRACE Project.