Providing help through a bit of hope; is the goal of Dr. Lanny Wilson, Dean of Clinical Sciences at Avalon University School of Medicine, and Co-Chair of the Heroin/Opioid Prevention & Education (HOPE) Task Force in DuPage County, Illinois.
In addition to guiding students through the process of clinical rotations at Avalon University, Dr. Wilson strives to treat and prevent the heroin/opioid epidemic at the local level in his home state of Illinois. The efforts exemplified by Dr. Wilson and HOPE remind us all that it is not only important to prevent this epidemic from impacting future generations, but it is also important to help those who are struggling currently and want to break the cycle.
On Friday, May 20, 2022, Dr. Wilson announced the recipients of $110,000 in grants on behalf of the DuPage County HOPE Task Force. The programs receiving the grants focus on substance-abuse education, prevention and treatment programs, assistance for those in sober living homes, and reducing the stigma toward substance abuse and mental health. The time for keeping addiction and substance abuse in the closet has long passed. We must provide those with addiction disease the level of treatment and support we would for any other disease. With the help of the HOPE Task Force, DuPage County is on the road to recovery; proving that focusing on issues locally can make a monumental difference.
