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For Immediate Release

April 4, 2016 (San Diego, Calif.)- Heroes in Recovery is proud to announce the recipient of its biannual Heroes in Recovery Award at Foundations Recovery Network’s Innovations in Recovery Conference. The award is presented to everyday heroes who aid in the cause of treatment for addiction and mental health issues.

Rob Waggener, Vice President of Addiction Services for Foundations Recovery Network presented the award to this years’ recipient: Richard Noble.

Richard is a substance abuse counselor and LGBT rights activist and has been fighting for recovery across the country and on Capitol Hill. From an early age, he struggled with addiction and depression and once attempted to take his own life. After surviving that experience, he embraced a life of recovery and treatment for mental health and addiction. Richard has walked the rainbow flag across America, speaking to schools, national legislatures and educators, calling for comprehensive LGBT civil rights protections and the decriminalization of addiction. Consequently, Congress filed The Equality Act. He has been recognized by multiple members of Congress, and President Obama invited him to White House in 2014 on behalf of his cause. He is a steering committee member for the Human Rights Campaign at his home in Palm Springs, California. Richard represented California in the Unite to Face Addiction movement in Washington, DC, and he is an out, proud, sober gay man fighting to make a difference.

Richard Noble Heroes Award IiR2016 Head Shot

“I’m profoundly moved to have received the Heroes in Recovery Award for 2016. I am determined more than ever to break the stigma,” said Noble. “Not just towards substance abuse, but that of alcoholism and substance abuse in the LGBT community.”

A committee selects the Heroes in Recovery award recipients after reviewing nominations received throughout the year. Nominations for the 2016 awards at the Moments of Change conference in Palm Beach, Fla. can be submitted at Heroesinrecovery.com.

About Heroes in Recovery:

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 20 million people needed substance abuse treatment last year and did not receive it. Ten million Americans did not receive needed mental health care. The stigma associated with substance abuse and mental health disorders creates a significant barrier to individuals and families seeking help.

Heroes in Recovery is a grassroots movement intended to remove the social stigma associated with people who are in recovery, to recognize the heroic effort it takes to overcome the obstacles in seeking help, and to celebrate the act of preventing the past from kidnapping the future. While the movement initially focuses on persons recovering from addictive behavior, it is meant also to recognize heroes recovering from many other types of disorders and trauma that can feed or manifest from an addiction.

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For general press information and media inquiries contact:

Kaitlin Pickrel

(937) 305-6774

Kaitlin.Pickrel@frnmail.com

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