On Sept. 12, the Delaware Behavioral Health Consortium, the University of Delaware’s Department of Communication and the Center for Health Communication hosted a summit on the opioid crisis, uniting community agencies, policymakers and mental health advocates to discuss strategies for addressing the state’s ongoing opioid epidemic.

The event provided a unique opportunity to hear from community advocate and filmmaker Sharece Sellem-Hannah; Darryl “Wolfie” Chambers, executive director of the Center for Structural Equity; Phil Rutherford, strategy lead for substance use at the National Council for Mental Wellbeing and CEO of Black Faces Black Voices; and Anthony Jackson, who recently joined the Mental Health Association in Delaware as a full-time mental health court peer mentor.

Rutherford shared insights from Unity dinners held over the summer and led a live poll during the event, engaging 84 participants with six questions that revealed key community perspectives on substance use and recovery. Key data included:

What is working well?

• Increased awareness and education: 34.88%
• Access to harm reduction services: 27.13%

Common misconceptions?

• Substance use affects only certain demographics: 33.1%
• Recovery relies solely on willpower: 25.35%

Behavioral Health Consortium Chair Lt. Governor Bethany Hall-Long was in attendance and shared a few words before the audience viewed the full length documentary Silence on the Streets, a project created by Sellem-Hannah in collaboration with the Connecticut Overdose Response Strategy (CT-ORS) Team. The documentary highlights the experiences of inner-city Black, Latino/a/x and Indigenous community members grappling with addiction.

For more information or resources, visit the CHC website.