Second Annual Be the Bridge: Walk for Recovery A Success

St. Christopher’s Inn put an exclamation point on National Recovery Month, holding its second annual Be the Bridge: Walk for Recovery.

On Sunday, October 1, Friars, leaders and staff from St. Christopher’s Inn and several hundred community members gathered at the Walkway Over the Hudson in Poughkeepsie for the event. Participants strolled over the pathway that spans across the Hudson River, all to raise awareness of addiction recovery. Since purple is the official color for Recovery Month, participants wore purple event t-shirts to commemorate the day. Along with the walk, the day featured accompanying fun festivities, including music and face painting and balloon twisting. NARCAN training was also offered.

The event was a success by all accounts—raising awareness and raising just over $70,000—exceeding the goal. Proceeds will go towards assisting men in crisis battling the disease of addiction at St. Christopher’s Inn. A ministry of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement, St. Christopher’s Inn is a leader in providing men ages 18 and older with addiction treatment and rehabilitation.

There were also moving tributes as some families of those lost to the disease of addiction remembered their loved ones by walking together holding special signs of memorial.

St. Christopher’s Inn is a NYS OASAS licensed residential program that operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and provided long-term integrated services to residents. St. Christopher’s Inn’s mission is to offer a continuum of exceptional care that facilitates physical, emotional and spiritual healing withing a recovery community open to all.

Society of the Atonement founders Servant of God Father Paul Wattson, SA, and Mother Lurana White, SA, graciously assisted weary and tired wanderers after their arrival at the Holy Mountain of Graymoor more than 100 years ago. A group of those nomads later built a chicken coup out of fallen trees, which prompted Father Paul to then transform the makeshift shed into a home for the “pilgrims of the road.”

We know it today as St. Christopher’s Inn, as Father Paul named the shelter after the patron saint of travelers. The Inn has since evolved, becoming a safe haven where men can recover from the disease of drug addiction and alcoholism.

We would like to extend warm thanks to our generous sponsors: Event Sponsors- Allen Carpet & Flooring and Rolex Watch U.S.A., Inc.; Gold Sponsor- Ted Moudis Associates; Bronze Sponsors- Amergent, Conlon Engineering, LLC; Cornerstone Financial Group, Inc., and N. Dain’s Sons Co. (Dain’s Lumber). We would also like to thank everyone who participated in any way from volunteers to donors to walkers and all those who helped make this year’s event inspirational!

We are already looking forward to next year!