During the month of September, The Strand Theatre and the Delaware Public Health District are partnering to show a series of movies about addiction.

Throughout the year, The Strand has held quarterly Tuesday night screenings in a series titled “Meaningful Movies” and has selected themes including AI and Climate Change to show films about and discuss. This month, the films will focus on addition and substance use disorder (SUD) to tie in with National Recovery Month.

The series on addiction began Tuesday with a showing of “Flight” and will continue with “A Good Person” on Sept. 10; “The Lost Weekend” on Sept. 17; and “A Star is Born” on Sept. 24. Doors for the screenings will open at 6:30 p.m., and the films will begin at 7 p.m.

On Sept. 11, The Strand will hold a special screening of “Our American Family” followed by a panel discussion immediately afterwards with local leaders. The doors open at 5:30 p.m., and the film starts at 6 p.m.

Kelsey Kuhlman, the community health program manager at the Delaware Public Health District, said The Strand reached out to the health district earlier this year to set up the collaborative event.

“They knew that we have a comprehensive Project DAWN (Deaths Avoided With Naloxone) program through the Ohio Department of Health, and they wanted to highlight the fact that opiate addiction is happening here in Delaware County, but there are many resources available to combat it, including the lifesaving drug naloxone,” Kuhlman said. “The Strand employees have been trained in the use of this medication, and you just never know when you may have the opportunity to save a life.”

Kuhlman said the topic was selected because addiction and death due to addiction “is still impacting millions of people across the world,” including in Delaware County.

“We wanted to use the health observance of National Recovery Month to help people understand the complexities of addiction through film, but at the same time give them a local perspective of what resources are available across Delaware County, from SUD counseling, to corrections, to family support groups,” Kuhlman said. “I think for us as a health district it’s a chance to celebrate the hard work of so many community partners that come together to fight addiction on so many levels. With our 2023 Accidental Overdose Report just being published this past week, while we’re thankful that we don’t have as big of an issue as some communities — the problem is here and alive in Delaware County.”

Kuhlman said The Strand and the health district selected films that “really detail what addiction is, what it looks like, and how it can impact everyone from the person struggling with substance use disorder, to those people around them like friends and families.”

“That’s how the documentary, ‘Our American Family,’ and the community panel discussion came about on Wednesday, Sept. 11,” Kuhlman said. “Because the documentary film we’re showing really focuses on generational addiction with a family out of PA, it really brings to life the ‘real life’ picture of addiction, outside of Hollywood’s spin of fictional narratives/plot lines.”

Kuhlman said the films were specifically chosen to not overly generalize addiction but were selected to show a variety of sides to addition, including a functioning alcoholic in “Flight” or an unplanned opiate addiction due to a car accident in “A Good Person.”

“Film has the power to tell many stories, including stories that represent struggles with addiction that many Americans as well as Delaware County residents are battling every day,” Kuhlman said. “No community is immune to it. But this film series takes it one more step by bringing together the many community partners working to help our residents and give them the appropriate services they need to treat their addictions. … By coming together for the expert panel on the 11th or kicking off a Tuesday night film, patrons will have the chance to see the fictional narratives via film but tell the very real stories of addiction. It truly takes a village to fight addiction, and Delaware County is a special place because we all work together to fight this battle.”

Kuhlman outlined several local entities who are helping combat addiction:

• Sheriff’s Office/Corrections: Funding the movie series with drug seizure funds, as well as highlighting their comprehensive criminal justice programs to reduce recidivism and get people the help they need to fight their addiction.

• Delaware-Morrow Mental Health & Recovery Services Board:The local funder for many of the entities helping people & families with SUD.

• Southeast Healthcare & Maryhaven: Both organizations provide SUD counseling to those in need.

• SourcePoint: Focuses on the unique population of older adults who can often be at risk for unintentional addiction as it relates to proper medication management.

• Prosecutor’s Office: Helped to fund the series using drug seizure monies.

• Delaware County Common Pleas Court Specialized Dockets: Recovery Docket Judge James P. Schuck and Mental Health Docket Judge David M. Gormley, who are providing community service credit to attendees of the series.

• NAMI Mid-Ohio: Onsite the last Tuesday of the month (Sept. 24) to share free support resources that can benefit families who are impacted by SUD.

• Delaware Public Health District: Provides free naloxone, often referred to as Narcan (the brand name drug) and other harm reduction tools to the community to help people struggling with opiate addiction.

“Addiction is different for all, so having a multi-prong approach for recovery & treatment is critically necessary for long term success,” Kuhlman said.

Additionally, the health district will be providing 100 free tickets to every film in September on a first come, first serve basis due to generous contributions from Angela Jackson, a Delaware County resident who lost her daughter Marissa to an accidental overdose in 2018.

“Angela has joined us last year, and again this year to tell Marissa’s story and to possibly help other families avoid the despair she faced when due to addiction,” Kuhlman said.

“Fentanyl continues to be the number one substance found in those Delaware County residents who die due to accidental overdoses,” Kuhlman added. “While our 2023 numbers (20) are improved from 2022 (30), we still have work to do because every life is worth saving.”

More information about the film series can be found at https://strandtheatreoh.org/, and information and resources from the health district can be found at https://www.delawarehealth.org/.

Glenn Battishill can be reached at 740-413-0903.