We recently concluded the highly successful Hope and Freedom Gala, a momentous celebration of 50 years of Fora Health, formerly De Paul Treatment Centers, serving our community!
It was a sold-out event! Everyone got into the disco-glam theme and had a great time celebrating 50 years of transforming and saving lives through innovative care at Fora Health/De Paul Treatment in an inclusive, fun and safe environment. The Gala Dinner showcased stories from donors, staff, and patients who were part of our transformational treatment.
Fora Health’s original CEO, Steve Newton, reflected on his time with the organization, the history of addiction treatment in Oregon and how far the organization had come. We awarded our Samuel C. Wheeler Freedom Award to Doyal Smith. His lived experiences led Doyal to De Paul, at first as a patient. His journey allowed him to return as a volunteer and then staff member to begin building a successful career in the recovery field. Today, Doyal is the Executive Director at Dual Diagnosis Anonymous (DDA), which launched its first meeting in De Paul’s basement. Chir of Multnomah County Jessica Vega Pederson and our CEO Devarshi Bajpai also announced that Fora has completed funding for its new transitional housing facility for people after they complete treatment.
And thanks to the generosity of our attendees and everyone who gave online, we raised $250,000!
We are overjoyed by the reception, participation, and fun that was in abundance at this event and plan on organizing equally special events for the recovery community in the future!
Re-live the night through our full photo gallery here: Andie Petkus Photography | Fora Health 50th Anniversary 2024 (zenfolio.com)
Check out all the fun 360 videos from the event here (depending on your local connection, you may need to change the quality to “720p” in the video player settings): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1k6kh913K4DbAwl2aKfMZw54ocLECPQXM