For Immediate Release

Friday, June 10, 2016

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: john@jgpr.net

East Bridgewater Police Detective Sergeant and EB Hope Founder Honored for Excellence in Volunteer Services in Greater Brockton Community

EAST BRIDGEWATER – Police Chief John Cowan is pleased to announce that Detective Sgt. Scott Allen and EB Hope Founder Susan Silva received the 2016 Excellence in Volunteer Services Award from the Community Services of Greater Brockton for their work with the East Bridgewater Help Outreach Prevention Education Substance Abuse Outreach and Intervention Program (EB HOPE).

The award, presented at an annual awards dinner on June 8, recognizes Sgt. Allen and Silva as champions of the Greater Brockton community. EB HOPE was created to proactively provide a gateway to professional resources for persons with Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) and family/friends of persons with SUDs.

In November 2015, EB HOPE began the first of its bi-monthly drop-in center sessions, which were created to proactively assist people suffering from substance use disorders and their family and friends. The EB HOPE Outreach Center, created in part by Sgt. Allen, is held from 5 to 9 p.m. on the first and third Thursday of each month at the Community Covenant Church, 400 Pleasant St., in East Bridgewater.

The largest growing number of people assisted through EB HOPE has been through the non drop-in center hours, where officials receive a call on the EB HOPE phone line, or at the East Bridgewater police station, with someone looking for treatment. Officers are then able to follow up with the caller. So far, they have placed nearly 40 people into treatment during non drop-in center hours.

A total of 284 people, ranging from 20 years old to over 80 years old, have been assisted through the drop-in sessions or non drop-in hours since the program’s inception last November. Out of that number, 60 individuals have seen a licensed clinician and 90 have received Narcan training from representatives at Brockton Area Multi-Services Inc. (BAMSI), Learn to Cope and/or Brockton Area Opioid Abuse Overdose Collaborative.

“I am incredibly proud of Sgt. Allen and Susan for their dedication to EB HOPE,” Chief Cowan said. “Their countless hours of hard work have helped to launch the program’s drop-in center hours, and because of their efforts we have been able to help hundreds of people toward a better life for themselves and their loved ones.”

Community Services of Brockton is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve communications with local service agencies, increase awareness of members agencies and services, encourage collaborative efforts.

For more information about EB Hope, please visit their website.

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