Orange County News

For Immediate Release                                                            Contact: Christopher Borek

Thursday, January 11, 2018                                                845.291.3276, 845.238.4245c

Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced that he will be delivering the keynote address at a Community Conversation Around Substance Abuse Prevention, to be presented by the United Way of the Dutchess-Orange Region. The program will take place on Thursday, January 4, 2018, at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh. The program will consist of a panel discussion on substance abuse prevention, involving several people leading the fight against substance abuse in the Mid-Hudson, including:

Darcie Miller, Commissioner of Social Services and Mental Health, Orange County;           

Jim Conklin, Executive Director of the Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Council of Orange County;

Dawn Wilkin, Assistant Director of Prevention Services, Catholic Charities Community Services of Orange & Sullivan;

Dr. Damara Gutnick, Medical Director, Montefiore Hudson Valley Collaborative Preforming Provider System;

Elaine Trumpetto, Executive Director of the Council on Addiction Prevention & Education of Dutchess County, Inc.;

Dr. Michele Tugade, Associate Professor, Vassar College;

Susan Salomone, Executive Director, Drug Crisis In Our Backyard.

The panel discussion will be followed by focus groups, facilitated by members of the United Way’s Community Impact Council.

“You can’t pick up a newspaper, turn on the TV, or look at the Internet, without seeing some story about the tragedy the current drug crisis has caused,” said District Attorney Hoovler. “In Orange County, we are approaching the crisis through a three-part strategy: education, to help keep people away from drugs in the first place; the empowerment to seek treatment, to help people who are addicted; and enforcement, to attack the suppliers of illegal drugs before they can affect our communities. I applaud the United Way for bringing this program together, and for playing their part in addressing the drug epidemic, so that together, hopefully, we can save some lives.”

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