April 16, 2015
MEDIA ADVISORY
‘FACES OF RESILIENCE’ DINNER TO BENEFIT OHIO STATE WEXNER MEDICAL CENTER’S STAR PROGRAM
COLUMBUS – The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center’s Stress, Trauma and Resilience (STAR) Program will hold its annual “Faces of Resilience” dinner at 5:30 p.m. April 23 in the George Bellows Ballroom at the Hilton Columbus Downtown, 401 N. High Street.
Media representatives are asked to call the Media Relations office at 614-293-3737 to make arrangements to cover this event or schedule interviews with the keynote speakers before the event.
Featured guest speakers include David and Nic Sheff, a father and son who travel the country speaking about mental health, addiction and recovery. David Sheff is a journalist and the author of Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction and his latest, Clean: Overcoming Addiction and Ending America’s Greatest Tragedy. Beautiful Boy is an award-winning New York Times #1 bestseller that recounts his struggle to help his son Nic overcome methamphetamine addiction. Nic Sheff, who has been sober more than 5 years, is the bestselling author of addiction memoirs Tweak and We All Fall Down, and a novel, Schizo.
At the dinner, the STAR Program will honor Nancy Jeffrey as the 2015 STAR Award winner. This award annually recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the STAR Program and to the trauma and mental health fields. For more than 55 years, Jeffrey has been an advocate and a leader in the development and advancement of mental health services in Ohio. She successfully led the effort to pass the first levy for mental health services in Franklin County.
Rita J. Wolfe, corporate director of civic affairs at The Columbus Dispatch, and Dr. Andrew Thomas, chief medical officer of Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center, are serving as the event’s honorary chairs. Donation and sponsorship opportunities are available. Stellar STAR Sponsors who have donated $25,000 include George J. Kontogiannis; Brooke Bodney and Alistair Reynolds; LBrands Foundation and The Columbus Dispatch. Proceeds from the event will benefit the STAR Program to help individuals suffering from overwhelming trauma and mental health challenges.
The STAR Program, an initiative of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, OSU Harding Behavioral Health and Ohio State’s Neurological Institute, improves lives by developing and delivering trauma-informed clinical services and educational programs to help those suffering the ravages of trauma and related mental illness. Centered on the Medical Center’s values of compassion and empathy, the program also contributes new knowledge on stress and resilience gained through research.
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Media Contact: Eileen Scahill, Wexner Medical Center Media Relations, 614-293-3737, Eileen.Scahill@osumc.edu