On Wednesday, November 1, Georgia Commissioner Kevin Tanner participated in a listening session with the Freedom Through Recovery team and local officials to discuss the successes and ongoing needs of the Bulloch County recovery community.
Tanner is the Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. Prior to the listening session, he participated in an “Addiction Recovery Roundtable" with Georgia Southern University students and alumni. The roundtable was hosted by Bret Frazier and his team at The Center for Addiction Recovery at Georgia Southern.
Following the roundtable event, the listening session took place at Freedom through Recovery and was led by Executive Director, Catherine Tootle, and her team.
Several public officials were in attendance to the listening session:
- Jeff Breedlove (and team)
- Senator Billy Hickman
- Judge Lorna Glisson DeLoach
- Bulloch County Board of Commissioners chairman Roy Thompson
- Statesboro Police Department Kevin Wadley
- Trish Tootle
- Doug Collins
- June DiPolito
- Bret Frazier
- Rob Bohler
"It's a blessing to be here today and to see where the rubber meets the road at facilities like Freedom Through Recovery," Tanner said, following the listening session. "To hear all of the personal stories being told and seeing the impact that this facility is having on the Bulloch County community has been very inspiring. They are without question changing lives. We fund a lot of programs across the state of Georgia and look at programs from a 30,000-foot viewpoint regarding data and dollars. But to get a first-hand look at the groundwork and progress that this work is having on the community has been a powerful experience."
Freedom Through Recovery Executive Director, Catherine Tootle, also shared warm sentiments following the listening session stating,
"The Commissioner of DBHDD came down to see our recovery community in Bulloch County, and he saw just that and more," she said. "What it meant to us at Freedom Through Recovery to have him here was that we feel seen, heard, and respected as peer support specialists for the work that we do. The entire community of Statesboro showed up today, with representatives from various departments here in support of the work that we do. Each of our collaborators and public officials and representatives were all seen, heard, and respected today in our listening session; especially in the sharing of each of their own personal stories and relation to recovery."
For more information on Freedom Through Recovery, visit https://www.freedomthroughrecovery.org/.
