Bridge to Hope
The Bridge to Hope is an educational and support program for families and friends of loved ones who are affected by substance addiction. This program was established in January 2005 with weekly support group sessions held at UPMC Passavant and periodic education sessions. The Bridge to Hope does not offer counseling or advice, but it does provide a safe refuge for people seeking to find support. Facilitators trained and certified in addiction attend each weekly session to provide the support and structure for the group. To date, more than 750 families from the surrounding region are involved in the program. The weekly support sessions are attended by an average of over 30 people including parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, spouses, older siblings, fiancés, and so on.
In February 2007, the Foundation received a state grant for $65,000 from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Community and Economic Development; the grant expired on June 30, 2009. Projects supported by the grant included a 20-minute quality educational Bridge to Hope video which is presented during educational seminars. The video was produced by an Emmy-award winning WQED producer, Michael Bartley.
The Bridge to Hope--Meetings:
Wednesdays at 7 p.m.
Passavant Hospital Foundation Conference Center - Conference Room 1
(located next to Cumberland Woods Village
Independent Senior Living Facility on the UPMC Passvant Campus)
700 Cumberland Woods Drive (off of Cumberland Rd.)
Allison Park, PA 15101
Main Number: 412-635-8080
Foundation: 412-367-6640
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
The Bridge to Hope will occasionally provide readers links to relevant articles and essays on the topic of addiction, recovery and family support for those whose loved ones are involved in some form of substance abuse. This is the first of those pieces.
Heroin users aren't the only ones trapped by the disease of addiction. Parents of addicts often find their lives spinning out of control in sometimes futile efforts to save their children.
In the final installment of the occasional series "Heroin's Siren Song" Post Gazette reporter Michael A. Fuoco and photographer Rebecca Droke explore how parents whose children have died from heroin overdoses try to cope with such unspeakable loss.
Read this article and access the other 10 installments in this moving and impactful series:
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(Please see our Events page for more info)
To arrange a talk for your group, click here.