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 This September marks the beginning of ETCADA’s 43rd year of service to East Texas! We are going to celebrate at our Annual Dinner scheduled for September 18 at Pinecrest Country Club in Longview.
The highlight of this year’s annual event will be Jessica Brown. Jessica is a 24 year old young woman who, after graduating from a local high school, became involved with meth. Her story is compelling and all too vivid about the horrors that drug abuse can inflict on young people. But Jessica’s story has a happy ending. After getting clean and sober, Jessica went on to pursue her music career on American Idol (AI). Her audition landed her in Hollywood where she wowed the AI judges. I have no doubt guests at this year’s annual dinner will embrace Jessica’s story and will fall in love with her vocal talent. I hope you’ll join us in September as we celebrate Jessica Brown’s music intertwined with her story of hope and recovery.
As ETCADA has grown over the years, we have been especially challenged to recruit board members from the far reaches of our service area. In June, our Board of Directors demonstrated a willingness to grow and change along with our service community by revising the Bylaws to create outreach boards that will meet quarterly in Paris and Jacksonville. This will allow opportunities for communicating, networking, and creating relationships with people who live in the far north and south areas of Region IV. At the Annual Dinner, we’ll approve membership for 15-20 new members and we’ll be eager to get to know them; but more importantly, we’ll be eager to hear their input about the needs of their communities.
I hope you’ll join me at the Annual Dinner where we’ll welcome new board members and celebrate recovery with Jessica Brown. We’ll also celebrate ETCADA’s hard work and accomplishments. Last year, ETCADA counselors reached out to over 1,200 youth and adults who were seeking treatment for addiction. Reaching out means creating a path through which individuals with substance use disorder can access state-funded screening and assessment, but it also means reaching out to the family members of those who are hurting from the pain of their addiction. In addition, we directly touched the lives of over 7,000 East Texas youth by providing skills and tools that will help young people make healthy choices about their future.
It’s no secret that ETCADA plays a vital role in East Texas, and we couldn’t do it without you. As we begin our 43rd year we ask you to consider how you can join us in making East Texas a better place. We are grateful to so many of you who have been our partner throughout the years and we look forward to expanding our group of ETCADA friends.
With Gratitude,
Susan
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