Manchester, Tenn. – Coffee County resident Jennifer Hunt is featured in the Tennessee Department of Health’s “Tennessee Faces of the Opioid Crisis“ public education and awareness campaign. This project will include people from every county of Tennessee sharing personal stories of how they have been impacted by the opioid crisis. The campaign also provides resources and information on how everyone can be part of the solution to this problem.
“My younger brother became addicted to opioids when he was a teenager after having open heart surgery. At the age of 35, he was arrested for a drug-related charge and spent several months in prison. He was released on a Thursday and within 48 hours died from an opioid-related overdose. After so much personal impact from the opioid epidemic, I decided to pursue a strategy to combat the opioid crisis in my county. Together with a colleague, I developed a reentry program for females in the Coffee County Jail that fouses on healthy adaptation in the often-stressful post release peroid, with a primary purpose of reducing opioid-related overdoses. The program is titled HOPE and stands for Healthy Outcomes Post Release Education.” (READ MORE OF JENNIFER’S STORY BY CLICKING HERE)
The goal of the “Tennessee Faces of the Opioid Crisis“ campaign is to show how the opioid epidemic is having an impact on people in every community and county in our state, and that by working together Tennesseans can make a change to overcome this crisis.
“We want people to understand this isn’t just someone else’s problem. Sixteen people in Coffee County died of drug overdose in 2017. This crisis is hurting our community, our families, neighbors, friends and coworkers,“ said Coffee County Health Director Debbie Dickey. “We want to help people learn about local resources they can use to be part of the solution. It can be as simple as knowing where to take unused or expired medication for proper disposal.“
Resources available in Coffee County include safe drug drop-off sites at the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department, the Manchester Police Department and the Tullahoma City Police Department.
“Tennessee Faces of the Opioid Crisis“ is a project funded through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Learn more at www.TNFacesofOpioids.com.
