Support for family, community meets Sundays
Parents of Addicted Loved ones (PAL), a support group for parents and the community, meets at 4 p.m. Sundays in the fellowship hall at Parkview Church of the Nazarene, 1750 State Road 46 East. Enter by the side door.
Family members 18 years or older are welcome. The group will discuss the needs of parents and family supporting addicts, how best to support loved ones, how to educate the community and break the stigma.
For more information, contact Pamela McCoy at 812-606-4176 or [email protected].
Alcoholics Anonymous meetings scheduled
Alcoholics Anonymous has meetings most weekdays at several Brown County locations:
6:30 p.m. Tuesdays — Closed men’s discussion meetings, Brown County Presbyterian Fellowship, 602 North State Road 135
8 p.m. Tuesdays — Closed literature study, The Fieldhouse, 98 W. Washington St.
8 p.m. Wednesdays — Open discussion meetings, Sycamore Valley Community Center at the fairgrounds
9:30 a.m. Fridays — Open literature discussions, lower-level meeting room, Brown County Public Library, 205 N. Locust Lane
8 p.m. Mondays — Open discussion meetings, Sycamore Valley Community Center, 746 Memorial Drive at the fairgrounds
Open meetings are available to anyone interested in this program of recovery from alcoholism. Non-alcoholics can attend open meetings as observers.
Closed meetings are for AA members only, or for those who have a drinking problem and want to stop.
Health department has free overdose rescue kits
Brown County Health Department has received a supply of overdose rescue kits from the Indiana State Department of Health to distribute in an effort to help prevent fatal opioid overdoses.
Kits contain naloxone hydrochloride, a non-narcotic medication that reverses the life-threatening respiratory failure that is usually the cause of overdose deaths. The medication is also known by trade name Narcan.
Distribution locations in the county for naloxone can be found on optin.in.gov or by calling the health department. Anyone wanting to get kits must get training on how to administer naloxone.
The health department is a registered naloxone dispenser. People in need of naloxone can request it from a registered entity. A prescription is not needed so long as people are requesting the medication from a registered entity.
Naloxone is approved by the Food and Drug Administration and has been used for more than 40 years by emergency medical services to reverse opioid overdose and revive people who might have died without treatment. It is not addictive, and although it is only effective at reversing overdoses of opioid drugs like heroin or prescription painkillers, it is not harmful if administered to someone who has not taken opioids, the health department reports.
For information on treatment for substance use disorder, visit the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration’s Division of Mental Health and Addiction website at in.gov/fssa/dmha.
Addiction recovery support offered at church
From 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays, New Life Community Church, 1450 State Road 135 North, hosts weekly recovery support meetings, known as Battlefield For Freedom, for people struggling with addiction. For more information, call Melissa Tatman at 812-320-9838.
Health department providing free sharps containers
The Brown County Health Department is giving out sharps collection containers that residents can use to safely dispose of needles, syringes and lancets.
Containers may be picked up or dropped off at the Brown County Health Department, 201 Locust Lane, weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. with the exception of holidays.
Once the container is full, it can be returned to the Brown County Health Department for free disposal. Anyone can get another free sharps container upon return of a sealed full one.
The health department will only collect and dispose of FDA-cleared sharps containers. Alternative sharps containers, such as laundry detergent bottles or coffee cans, will not be accepted. Sharps containers are for sharps only. No other waste is to be placed in the container.
This is not a syringe exchange program. It is “an effort to keep sharps out of our daily trash and helping to maintain Brown County as a beautiful place to work and live,” the health department reported in a press release.
For more information, call the Brown County Health Department at 812-988-2255 and ask for the nursing division.
Women’s support group meets Mondays
A women’s recovery group meets at 6:30 p.m. Mondays for about 90 minutes.
Child care is available. For more information, including the location, call Carrie at 812-320-1201.
Indiana Raptor Center requests donations
Indiana Raptor Center is asking for donations of used, clean sheets and towels for use in their raptor rehabilitation care.
If planning to donate, call 812-988-8990 for more information and to ensure someone will be available at that time to receive donations. A name and address of the donor will be needed if donors wish to receive a goods tax letter.
Blanket donations are not needed at this time. The Indiana Raptor Center suggests that if you have blankets and comforters to give away, donate them to the Brown County Humane Society, as they use them to care for cats and dogs, especially during winter.
Foster homes for kittens, adult pets needed
The Brown County Humane Society is in need of foster homes for kittens.
Fostering does not take a lot of room or supplies. Humane society staff can teach whatever knowledge is needed. Regular support is provided. Foster homes for adult dogs and cats are also needed on occasion.
If interested, fill out an application at bchumane.org/volunteer/foster-application.
To learn more about fostering kittens, visit bchumane.org/kittens.
USO seeks volunteers for Camp Atterbury
EDINBURGH — Volunteers are needed at the Camp Atterbury USO center. Volunteers help welcome military service members and support the USO goal of being a “home away from home” for all those who will be training at Atterbury away from family and comforts of home.
Especially at this time of year, when Atterbury is active with military training, the USO center becomes the primary place for service members to socialize, decompress and grab a snack.
Help is needed to help keep the Atterbury USO open for 15 hours per day, seven days a week. The center serves more than 71,500 military service members per year.
For more information, contact Jaclyn at [email protected]; call her at 317-991-1073; or visit usoindiana.org to sign up as a volunteer with the Atterbury USO.
Free vaccines given at health department
The Brown County Health Department, on the second floor of the County Office Building, 201 Locust Lane, is offering immunizations free of charge for uninsured adults. Adults and children who are insured also can be immunized at the health department without paying a doctor’s office visit fee; bring your insurance card with you.
Vaccines include tetanus, Hepatitis A and B, DTaP, MMR, PVC13, PPSV23, varicella and others.
For more information or to make an appointment, call the health department at 812-988-2255 weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Habitat now accepting applications
Brown County Habitat for Humanity is accepting applications through the end of January to become the BCHH Partner Family for 2020. Interviews and family selection will take place in February.
For more information or to receive an application packet, call 812-988-4926 or email [email protected]. Information also can be found on the website at bc-habitat.org.
Red Cross installing free smoke detectors
The Red Cross will come and install a smoke detector for anyone in the county who would like one. This is a free service.
Call 888-684-1441 for more information.
Mother’s Cupboard doing away with plastic bags
Beginning in February, Mother’s Cupboard will no longer be taking or using plastic bags for meals or groceries. The pantry will accept donated paper bags in place of plastic. Clients will have the option of getting reusable totes to carry their meals and groceries if they wish.
Later in the year, as funds become available, Mother’s Cupboard will transition from styrofoam meal trays to biodegradable options. The pantry currently recycles cardboard and cans; by adding these two other options, leaders hope to see their environmental footprint decrease.
Ministry provides cancer support program
GNAW BONE — Nondenominational group Heart of Christ Ministries, 5181 State Road 46 East, offers a program called Thriving Hope Cancer Care Ministry.
Sponsored by Our Journey of Hope from the cancer treatment centers of America, the ministry provides people touched by cancer with help and spiritual counsel specific to the needs of cancer patients, caregivers or loved ones. Leaders completed a Bible-based cancer care training program.
With questions, to get involved or to receive help, call 812-371-0247. For more information, visit Heart of Christ Ministries on Facebook.
