Sutter Yuba Behavioral Health hosts picnic

Shamaya Sutton, Appeal-Democrat, Marysville, Calif.
Updated ·2 min read

Sep. 30—In honor of National Recovery Month, a picnic was held Thursday at Sam Brannan Park in Yuba City.

This annual Recovery Happens event is hosted on the last Thursday each September and is organized by Sutter Yuba Behavioral Health.

Representatives from both Yuba and Sutter counties were in attendance with the goal of supporting addicts and their families and connecting them with local community resources and services.

Over two dozen booths were set up throughout the park offering information on affordable housing, health care programs, treatment centers, legal assistance, employment opportunities, support clubs, and drug prevention services. Yuba-Sutter Transit also sent out a representative to help educate attendees on the area's public transit system and local bus routes.

"This is an important networking opportunity too," said Maria Markham with California Rural Legal Assistance. "Sometimes I refer people to Hands of Hope or other organizations I've met here and vice versa."

Around 200 people were in attendance this year, gathering under the central awning to hear the testimonies of recovered addicts and uplifting speeches from officials such as Sutter County Supervisor Dan Flores. A Salvation Army food truck supplied a free lunch to all registered participants, and raffles were held throughout the afternoon.

John Miller, with Deborah's House, a clean and sober living program, reported that the event was smaller than it has been in previous years but credits this to the two-year hiatus experienced during the pandemic.

Team members from Marysville's AEGIS Pinnacle Treatment Center were handing out free boxes of Narcan Nasal Spray. Narcan is used in emergencies to help reverse a known or suspected opioid overdose.

"The good thing is, even if you don't know if a person has overdosed or not, giving the individual Narcan will not hurt them," explained Nishi Dhanota, a physician assistant with AEGIS.

Narcan is a lifesaving treatment, similar to an epipen, that can be kept on hand for use as needed. Some supplies require a prescription, but the team at Marysville AEGIS decided to donate their extra supplies during the picnic to help prevent overdose fatalities among those who are most at risk.