Source: Office of United States Attorneys
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – United States Attorney Will Thompson is joining with numerous partners to hold the HOPE (Healing, Opportunities and Possibilities to Empower) Family Drug Summit on Wednesday, January 15, 2025, at the University of Charleston.
The daylong summit is free and will focus on West Virginia families impacted by Substance Use Disorder (SUD). The summit will bring SUD survivors, families, and the professionals who support them together to share information, build connections, foster collaboration and strengthen partnerships to provide HOPE to those suffering from SUD as well as their children and families.
“Whether it is a child, parent or other family member struggling with addiction or a loved one lost to an overdose, virtually no one in West Virginia has been left unaffected by the drug epidemic,” Thompson said. “This summit is about hope and showing that recovery is real, and that those suffering from the impact of SUD are not alone. This is another way to make our communities safer.”
Summit topics include the neurobiology of addiction, evidence-based mentoring for youth in foster and kinship care, and ways to navigate treatment, recovery and support systems. Summit attendees will hear from fellow West Virginians who have lost family members to overdoses and who have seen success on the road to recovery. Summit speakers will also provide overviews of the criminal and civil legal systems and detail the latest data tracking the drug crisis in the state.
The University of Charleston is hosting the main portion of the summit at the Geary Student Union Ballroom. Other summit partners are: the Drug Enforcement Administration, Louisville Division; the Federal Public Defender’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia; the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia; Jobs & Hope West Virginia; the West Virginia Department of Homeland Security; the West Virginia Center for Children’s Justice; the West Virginia Fusion Center; West Virginia Public Defender Services; First Choice Services; Legal Aid of West Virginia; and Mission West Virginia.
Additional information about the summit, including a portal to register for this in-person event, is available at https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdwv/pr/hope-family-drug-summit.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia.
###