Independence Township Board of Trustees recognized September as National Recovery Month during the Sept. 8 meeting.
Oakland County Community Mental Health Authority and its Office of Substance Abuse Services (OSAS), along with the Oakland County Health Division, requested the September 2015 recognition.
Approximately 20.7 million people in the United States have a substance use disorder.
The proclamation adopted by township trustees said stigma and stereotypes of substance use disorders often keep people from seeking treatment.
Oakland County’s Mental Health Authority, and its service provider network, is hosting an array of events to promote community awareness about substance use matters for the first time this year.
The proclamation recognizes substance use recovery is important for individual well-being and vitality, as well as for families, communities and businesses.
“As part of this endeavor they are asking cities, townships and villages throughout Oakland County to partner with them by adopting a proclamation for September as National Recovery Month,” said Township Supervisor Pat Kittle.
“Together we can join the voices for recovery as advocates for people who have or are currently working to overcome a substance use disorder,” said Christina Nicholas, manager at Office of Oakland County’s Substance Abuse Services.
? Andrea Beaudoin