A Thanksgiving Message from FAN's Executive Director
Dear FAN Friends & Family...

Thanksgiving week is upon us and I wanted to reach out and thank each and every one of you for being a part of Families Against Narcotics. Whether you’re a FAN employee, supporter, board member, volunteer, chapter affiliate, law enforcement partner, or someone who has used FAN programs and services, we are grateful to have you in our corner.

This has been an incredible year for FAN. Thanks to funding provided by the state of Michigan, we’ve been able to expand our staff and programming at an extraordinary rate, allowing us to serve even more individuals and families who have been affected by addiction. This year, we’ve added new FAN chapters, launched a new addiction-related diversion program called REDIRECT, expanded our COMEBACK Quick Response Team program into more police departments, and added a mobile unit to our HARM:LESS harm reduction initiative. We’re also getting ready to launch a brand-new Call Center for our Hope Not Handcuffs program, which has now connected people to recovery resources more than 8,500 times since 2017.

I’ve also had the opportunity to speak about FAN and its programs at several conferences, both in-state and across the country. Whether I’m presenting at an event in Michigan or places like Las Vegas, Utah, or Boston, one thing remains clear: the admiration and respect for FAN and what we do is overwhelming. So much so that we are regularly getting requests from people and organizations that want to mirror what FAN does in other parts of the U.S. That’s a great testament to FAN and everyone associated with us.

So, I am filled with gratitude again this year and hope that you are, too. Life isn’t perfect for any of us, and the last couple of years have been extremely difficult for everyone. But if we stop and think about the positive things we have in our lives, I think we’d all agree that we are better off than most. Melody Beattie says that “gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

Those words say a lot, don’t they? Perhaps before sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner this year, you and your family could take a few minutes to write a Gratitude List. It’s really a great way to inventory the important, meaningful things in your lives. And Gratitude Lists have been proven to improve things like physical and psychological health, self-esteem, mental strength, and even how you sleep.

Happy Thanksgiving from me and mine to you and yours. My hope is that you have an enjoyable day with people who truly matter to you, and that you eat well in the process. Appreciate what and who you have, because there are a lot of people who would love to have the same. And remember: eventually, you may not have everything or everyone you have today. So, be in the moment and take it all in. As author Anne Lamott says, “Right this minute, we understand that this is all there is, so let’s really be together.”

With warm and grateful thoughts,

Linda Davis
Executive Director
Families Against Narcotics
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