Talking health care, housing and opioids in DC

Thanks to the leadership of our National Council team, staff members visited Washington D.C. on April 18 to talk health care, housing and opioids with members of the Maryland delegation.

Staff members made an impressive amount of stops and visited with elected officials…

• Senator Chris Van Hollen
• Senator Ben Cardin
• Congressman Elijah E. Cummings
• Congressman Jamie Raskin
• Congressman John Sarbanes
• Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger

President and CEO Kevin Lindamood and Senior Director of Policy Barbara DiPietro discussed what we do as an agency—and where we do it. Regina Reed and Katherine Cavanaugh also gave some insight about the local and national work our team members do.

Danny Resnick, Molly Greenberg, Justine Wright, John Lane, Malcolm Williams, Marc Bowman and Ted Ramsay explained the ins and outs of their respective departments, giving delegates an idea of the reach and scope of our work. 

“It was good to hear what our representatives are up to, how they can support us and how we can support them," said Ted.

But the biggest item on the agenda was opioids.

"We discussed the need for more recovery housing for folks leaving treatment, what recovery looks like and ideas around training physicians to be better able to treat patients' overall health and not just prescribe opioid medication," said Marc.

Client and advocate Desmond also shared his personal experience overcoming substance use.

Later that day, Representative Cummings and Senator Elizabeth Warren introduced the CARE Act—a bill that will provide $100 million in federal funding over the next decade to address the opioid crisis.

Thank you to everyone who participated—and special kudos to Barbara, Regina and Katherine for a successful and well-organized day!