By Mike Pettinella
Leaders of the Public Safety Assisted Addiction & Recovery Initiative in Genesee County have been informed that Allie Hunter, PAARI’s national executive director, will be coming to Batavia to speak at Tuesday’s event showcasing the participation of the City of Batavia Fire Department.
The program is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at fire headquarters at 18 Evans St.
Hunter, in her role as executive director of the Boston, Mass.-based organization, coordinates training, technical assistance, and strategic guidance to police to help them when dealing with individuals using alcohol or drugs, or in recovery.
An authority on policing as it relates to the opioid epidemic, she was deputy director of the Nonviolent Initiative for Democracy, and has worked at several other Boston-area nonprofit agencies, including ZUMIX and Bikes Not Bombs.
In the spring of 2017, Hunter received a Nonprofit Excellence Award and was named young professional of the year by the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network, and in fall 2018, she accepted an AmeriCorps Excellence Award for PAARI’s first-of-its-kind program that embeds national service members in police departments to address the opioid epidemic.
PAARI, officially known as Police Assisted Addiction & Recovery Initiative, is designed to provide support and resources to help law enforcement agencies nationwide create non-arrest pathways to treatment and recovery.
The public is invited to attend the session, which will feature local public safety officials as well as representatives of the Genesee County Health Department, Greater Rochester Health Foundation, Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, and GOW Opioid Task Force.
Genesee County participants are the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, City of Batavia Police Department, Village of Le Roy Police Department, City of Batavia Fire Department and Genesee/Orleans Health Department.
Complimentary food and beverage will be provided.
To register for this event, click here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/new-paari-location-opening-event-registration-160639311505
For more information, contact Christen Ferraro, GRHF project coordinator, at cferraro@gcasa.org.