The "Change My Mind" event was held on March 31, 2023, at the Historic Fox Theatre. During the evening, "The First Day" film was shown featuring former NBA player Chris Herren's personal story, then hear from local panelists who share their stories and answer questions. We will peer into mental wellness, substance use and recovery. Both the Reno County Health Department and the Reno Recovery Collaborative partnered with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to put on the event that helped people look at substance abuse from a different perspective. Herren's story is about his addiction to opioids then heroin, then his recovery and now he talks to young people to help them have the courage to stop substance abuse. A four member panel of spoke of their personal journeys of recovery and their involvement in helping others with their substance use disorder. Panelists were Stacy Corwin, Mirror Inc., Clayton Evans, Breakthru at the Summit, Libertee Thompson, Community Corrections and Drug Court, and Cody Beaton, Mirror Inc. Reno County Health Educator Seth Dewey was the emcee for the event and spoke on his own personal recovery journey, introduced the panelists and spoke about the film.
"Struggle ends when we start talking about it," said Dewey. "What would it look like if we continued to do this as a community. We've seen small successes. But imagine what we could do if we continue to shift that culture to one that individuals are safe to talk about struggles. What would it look like if we talked about it on the first day (of substance abuse) instead of the last day, what kind of culture could we create."
