King of Prussia, PA, April 09, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PHILADELPHIA, PA -- Recovery Centers of America (www.RecoveryCentersofAmerica.com), together with The Hyer Calling Foundation, (www.hyercalling.org) announce their inaugural event advocating for the legal recovery community on May 8 at 2pm at RCA’s Devon location. Part of their recent launch of a collaborative partnership to provide career-related services not covered by insurance to help RCA alumni seeking a second chance at a career, the event will be co-hosted by noted law firm Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel (www.obermayer.com) and will feature keynote speaker, HCF Advisory Council member Mary Beth O’Connor, author of From Junkie to Judge: One Woman’s Triumph Over Trauma & Addiction, who will also lead CLE for PA and NJ attorneys.
Despite the consistent presence of SUD in the workplace and the continuation of the opioid and fentanyl crises in both the business and legal communities, it is still rare for law firms to publicly step up to help raise awareness around these life and death issues as well as actively participate in creating a recovery-friendly workplace. What makes this situation particularly unique, is that Obermayer was the firm that originally employed HCF Founder and labor and employment attorney Kevin Hyer, who was suffering from untreated SUD at the time of his dismissal, and now working hand-in-hand to help other attorneys trying to reclaim their lives and careers.
Stated Hyer, “I cannot stress enough, how significant it is that Obermayer is assuming a leadership role in helping businesses and individuals forge a path ahead in partnership with HCF and RCA, creating a recovery-friendly environment.”
Said former colleague Senior Counsel Charlie Shute, ”Having watched with interest and admiration Kevin’s creation of HCF and its significant impact over the last several years, I became willing to re-establish a working relationship as collaborative partners. Given Obermayer’s dedication to our labor and employment practice, we are looking forward to helping our clients learn how to navigate the many issues around recovery in the workplace through this highly unique collaboration.”
In addition, Laurie Besden, Executive Director of Pennsylvania’s Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers, who works with attorneys both in addiction as well as treatment and recovery, will be at the event to help highlight the legal and workplace issues affected by SUD in a post-pandemic world. The event is specifically scheduled for the middle of Lawyer Well Being Week.
To help illustrate the complexity and need for direct, first person experience in order to understand all that is involved, retired federal administrative law judge Mary Beth O’Connor, HCF Advisory Council member and author will be telling her own story as part of the CLE.
Following the seminar, RCA will be co-hosting a reception for all attendees, who will have the opportunity to hear the first-person stories from Kevin, Mary Beth, Laurie and others.
As the gold standard in SUD treatment and co-occurring mental health conditions, RCA has always had a robust Alumni Association providing former patients in recovery an ongoing support system. But the initiative with HCF expands its ability to provide alums even greater tools and support to find permanent employment outside of the facility across the region and the business landscape. Said RCA Devon Executive Director Bridgette Vail, “It is beyond fulfilling to know that HCF is offering us a level of breadth and assistance that we’ve not had before, to enable those we’ve helped go the distance to reclaim their professional lives and careers.”
Established in Philadelphia for the purpose of reducing and ultimately eradicating the stigma of addiction in the workplace, HCF offers career counseling and related services that insurance does not provide for, so that those in recovery can get back on their feet professionally as quickly as possible, and at the same time, encourages businesses to hire employees in recovery and provides training to help businesses create recovery-friendly workplaces.
For more information, please visit www.hyercalling.org or www.recoverycentersofamerica.com or www.obermayer.com. For media inquiries or interviews please contact Nina Zucker Associates at 610.457.4387 or nina@ninazucker.com, Maureen Keown at 610.496.6290 or mkeown@recoverycoa.com or Dineo Thompson at Dineo.Thompson@obermayer.com at 215. 665.3151.
About Recovery Centers of America
Recovery Centers of America is dedicated to helping patients achieve a life of recovery through evidence-based treatment for substance use disorder and co-occurring mental health conditions. RCA has 11 inpatient facilities in Earleville and Waldorf (near Washington D.C.), Maryland; Danvers and Westminster, Massachusetts; Devon (near Philadelphia), and Monroeville (near Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania; South Amboy and Mays Landing, New Jersey; St. Charles, Illinois (outside of Chicago); Indianapolis, and Greenville in South Carolina. A full spectrum of outpatient treatment is also provided at many of these facilities. Patients can obtain care by calling 1-844-5-RCA-NOW (844-572-2669) with complimentary transportation provided in most cases. For the fourth year, RCA is recognized as having multiple sites
atop Newsweek’s America’s Best Addiction Centers rankings for excellence.
About Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel
Founded in 1904, Obermayer is a full-service law firm headquartered in Philadelphia. With over 120 attorneys across eleven offices, our clients include private and public businesses, healthcare providers, charitable and nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, government entities and municipalities, public utilities, fiduciaries, and individuals throughout the Mid-Atlantic, the U.S. and internationally. Our rock-solid reputation, and a strategic eye toward the future, gives our clients the best of all worlds: a dependable ally who leverages its connections to business, political and community leaders to get and to stay a step ahead.
