Woodlands Behavioral Healthcare Network (BHN) in Cassopolis will be hosting a Recovery Celebration and Suicide Prevention Awareness family day on Saturday, September 9. The event will recognize and honor those who have overcome personal challenges by celebrating with family-friendly activities such as face painting, food trucks, raffle prizes, and a petting zoo.
Peer recovery coach Shane Liedeke for Woodlands BHN told Watershed Voice Saturday’s celebration is not specific to just one particular type of recovery. “Oftentimes when we hear that word (recovery) we sum it up to substance use, but there’s recovery from food addiction, porn addiction, and gambling addiction,” he said. “Recovery for us is less substance-specific and more about understanding we went through a challenge and we’re trying to move forward in our life and leave that challenge out of it.”
Liedeke said having an event seen by the population of Cassopolis and Cass County that spreads awareness about suicide prevention and recovery starts to stir thoughts in people’s minds about the possibility of getting help for themselves and others. “The more people who talk about it and recover out loud the less people are scared to come forward when they are experiencing problems themselves,” Liedeke said.
Woodlands BHN has hosted events in the past, though Liedeke said the COVID-19 pandemic put a speed bump in that process. “Carol’s Hope is a major organization in the recovery community in this area, and we knew they had an event coming up at the end of September. A big part of planning this event was to pool all the resources that we could together, and if they have events we can advertise that for them,” he said.
Saturday’s event will feature a dunk tank, bounce house, face painting, food trucks, and a petting zoo. There will also be resource tables from organizations such as Pivotal St. Joseph County, the Cass County Council on Aging, and Carol’s Hope to provide information to those attending the celebration.
The Recovery Celebration and Suicide Prevention family day will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on September 9 at Woodlands BHN located at 960 M-60 in Cassopolis. More information can be found on the event’s Facebook page.
Beca Welty is a staff writer and columnist for Watershed Voice.
