A student at Coastal Carolina University wants to bring awareness to the opioid epidemic in Horry County, and help provide resources for those who may struggle with addiction.
“I want to bring hope to the community,” said Sydney Brown, a senior at CCU. Though she had an idea of how much the opioid epidemic has grown, Brown says researching it for the last year and a half as part of the Swain Scholars program, and working with the Horry County Heroin Coalition, “really opened my eyes. I lived here for 4 years and I had no idea what was going on in the community. It’s really scary,” she said.
Brown and fellow Swain Scholar Ashley Lynch are organizing a community awareness event they’re calling Horry Hope. In addition to inviting treatment centers, recovery organizations, and law enforcement, they plan to unveil a memorial wall that will display the names and photos of people who have died because of addiction. “We can have that up for anyone to see, to really draw attention to it so people can realize how serious it is, and how many people we’ve actually lost,” said Brown. She also wants to honor community members who have worked to overcome their addiction. Brown says she hopes to “open eyes for everyone and show them that it is possible. There is hope, you are able to overcome this.”
Though she’s still deciding on a location, Brown plans to hold Horry Hope on March 31st . She said,“If we can help one person on the road to recovery or prevent them from even touching one of these substances, that would mean everything.”
If you would like your loved one to be included on the memorial wall, you can contact Sydney Brown at horryhope@gmail.com.