Peace Valley Recovery Lends a Helping Hand This Holiday Season

Each year during the holidays, staff members at Peace Valley Recovery volunteer to help out members of our community. In the past we’ve put together gift bags for mothers with babies in the NICU, distributed “blessing bags” to folks in need in the community, and more. We know that helping others plays a crucial role in addiction recovery and love to help out where we can.

This holiday season we partnered with one of our staff members, Doug Turner. Doug runs an organization called “We Remember You” which reaches out to less fortunate people in the nearby area. We Remember You focuses especially on homeless individuals suffering from addiction. Many of these individuals are homeless as a direct result of their addiction.

We Remember You, with the help of Peace Valley Recovery staff members, gather to put together lunch bags for the local homeless population in Kensington.

The opioid epidemic plaguing Pennsylvania has contributed to rising rates of homelessness over the past few years. On many nights there are more than a thousand people spending the night on the streets of Philadelphia alone. Opioid addiction is terrible enough. Being homeless while battling addiction makes the problem even worse.

Trying to get clean while living on the streets is an incredible challenge.

Kensington is often considered the epicenter of Philadelphia’s opioid crisis. About half of the homeless population in Philadelphia resides in the area. Three in four homeless individuals in Kensington struggle with opioid addiction. 40% of these folks have been homeless for over a year.

After the devastating effects of 2020, the homeless population continued to grow. Though Philadelphia officials tried to limit the impact in certain ways, such as delaying drug-related arrests during the first few weeks of the outbreak, they couldn’t eliminate the problem in the long-run. As the pandemic wore on, the issue only got worse.

Being homeless during the holidays makes the situation all the more difficult. Holidays are usually associated with togetherness, good cheer, and winter wonderlands. When you’re living on the streets, though, it’s not as cheerful a season as it is for others. Watching families and friends gather with one another to celebrate deepens the sense of aloneness and isolation.