Change My Mind event at Fox Theater aims to educate

By JUDD WEIL 
Hutch Post

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Reno County Health Department and the Reno Recovery Collaborative partnered with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment will be hosting the “Change My Mind” event at Hutchinson’s Historic Fox Theatre on March 31.  

“It’s to help us look at substance abuse from a different life,” Seth Dewey, Health Educator at the Reno County Health Department, said.  

At the event, the film The First Day will be shown about former NBA basketball player Chris Herren and his personal story. The film is aimed to help people peer into mental wellness, substance use and recovery.  

“It's really like it says, ‘Change My Mind,” Dewey explains. “Change my mind from what? It’s to help us look at substance use from a different life, to basically challenge the stigma around substance use disorder. A lot of times we look at substance use or addiction and we have a preconceived notion of what that looks like.” 

To help people challenge that preconceived notion is why the movie, The First Day, is going to be shown. 

In the film, former NBA basketball player Chris Herren talks about how he became addicted to opioids and then eventually heroin, as well as his recovery. 

“The focus is going to also be on ‘hope,'” Dewey said. “Now he [Chris Herren] spends his days talking to youth and helping them find the courage to look at the positive and address and talk about the things that are really going on in their life, talking about mental wellness and substance use and finding the courage to talk about the things that are really going on.” 

Following the film, people will hear from four panelists about their various experiences in addiction recovery, including personal and professional.  

“We're also not just going to show that movie to help us challenge that stigma, but also after that movie, we're going to open up the floor to local panelists from different capacities within our community.”  

The panelists will include Clayton Evans with Breakthru at Summit, Stacy Corwin with Mirror Inc., Cody Beaton with Mirror Inc., and Libertee Thompson with Community Corrections and Drug Court. 

“I think that's going to be the real draw,” Dewey said. “Not only we're going to hear someone like Chris Herren on a national level. but we're going to be able to break it down on a local level and some of those individuals have personal stories of recovery and involvement with substance use disorder.” 

“I think that's where it's going to be so vital for the whole community to attend. Parents, youth, individuals in recovery, individuals that have no idea about anything about addiction, it's going to be important for everyone to come.” 

Dewey sees battling the stigma against people in recovery from addiction as both a family and community initiative.  

“And that's where Reno County, with the amazing things that we have going on, like with our whole Reno Recovery Collaborative, with all the different organizations that make that up like law enforcement, the health department, treatment providers like Horizons and SAC and Breakthu and United Way, and all these different organizations that take part in it,” Dewey said. “New Beginnings, and all these different places, all the Oxford Houses, everyone that makes that up has a part in creating this amazing and beautiful recovery ecosystem that makes it so individuals can find this recovery and not only find it, but then sustain.” 

After living in recovery himself, Dewey said he has realized recovery is not a linear effort for everyone.  

“It's not always linear,” Dewey said. “There is so many more ways to recover and for us to make as many potential ways as we can for individuals, then that's what I hope that we can continue to do in our community and as individuals.”  

Dewey has high hopes in what the community will take from the Change My Mind event.  

“Overall, I hope people for one, take away the fact that there's hope that recovery is possible and that we don't always have to focus on the end, but like the title of the movie, we can focus on the beginning,” Dewey said. “While we're hearing so much about fentanyl and overdoses, we also want to focus on the fact that recovery is happening every day.”  

“We want continue to help individuals put a face to that recovery and see that it's happening in their own community.” 

The Change My Mind event is free to attend. The Fox Theater will have their concession stand open. The doors open at 6 p.m. The movie will start at 6:30 p.m. The Fox Theater is located at 18 E. 1st Ave. 

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