Circle of Stars Raises $167,000 for TPC Programs

Posted: Thursday, October 27, 2016

On October 18th, The Providence Center held its annual “Circle of Stars” fundraiser at the Rhode Island Convention Center, where over 200 people gathered and helped to raise more than $167,000 for The Center’s 60+ mental health and substance use programs. This year’s honoree was the law firm Chace Ruttenberg & Freedman, LLP, recognized for their tremendous level of commitment and philanthropic generosity to the community.

Barbara Morse Silva from NBC 10’s Health Check served as the event’s emcee. “I’ve had the chance to hear many patients tell about their inspiring success stories and how the staff at The Providence Center never gave up on them,” said Morse Silva.

TPC’s President, Dale Klatzker, PhD., talked about the Center’s strategy “to innovate, develop radically different new ways of working, and launch new programs that meet the needs of our patients in ways that ‘disrupt’ the marketplace.”

As proof of this innovation, he mentioned the Anchor Ed program, which dispatches a peer recovery coach to meet with overdose survivors in every hospital in the state, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the first program of its kind in the nation.

Jonathan Goyer, an employee of Anchor Recovery Center, closed out the evening with a moving personal account about his own struggles with the disease of addiction. “If it wasn’t for the use of Narcan, and for the dedicated staff at The Providence Center giving me the right supports at the right time, in the right way, I wouldn’t be alive,” said Goyer.
   

Goyer now manages the Anchor MORE program, a mobile outreach team that connects those suffering from addiction with recovery supports all around Rhode Island. “I’m dedicated to paying it forward to all those who haven’t yet found recovery,” said Goyer.

Pictured: Dale Klatzker with Chace Ruttenberg & Freedman, LLP’s Don Wineberg