There I was, 180 feet off the ground with four other BSDers, leaning back and ready to rappel for the first time in my life. I was there for the Shatterproof Challenge: an event to increase awareness and funding for the prevention, treatment, and recovery of the disease of addiction.
Blue State has worked with Shatterproof for over a year, helping to launch the organization’s website and digital communications strategy. Our goal has been to build an unprecedented national movement to end the stigma around addiction, with individuals and lawmakers alike.
And like many nonprofits, Shatterproof raises awareness and critical funds for its cause via offline events, like runs and walks.
Unlike other nonprofits, Shatterproof does so via rappelling events across the country.
These events bring members of the community together; raising money but also awareness. Peer-to-peer fundraising paired with the high-profile nature of the Shatterproof Challenge works to bring the disease of addiction out of the darkness—beginning to end the silence and shame which have stigmatized the disease for so long.
As terrified as I was at the initial descent, I knew that conquering my fear of heights was nothing compared to conquering addiction. So there I was, supporting an organization I care for and have loved working with. Time to walk the walk. Down the side of a building.
The moment our rappelling instructor told me it was time to “stand up” on the ledge and lean back I looked at her in disbelief. My heart racing, I focused on her and slowly leaned backwards, clutching the rope, and starting my 10 minute walk down to the ground.
After finishing my descent, hands still shaking from gripping the rope a little too hard on the way down, I couldn’t stop smiling. Planting my feet on the ground at the end reminded me what I capable of, and for an organization dedicated to empowering a community to fight the disease of addiction, that symbolism is moving. As I watched my colleagues rappel, I had the chance to speak with other supporters, some of them parents of children in recovery, others battling the disease themselves.
In a nation where more than 22 million Americans suffer every day with addiction to alcohol and other drugs, it’s time to say enough is enough. Standing up to one of the most profound public health crises in our country? That will get me to do just about anything. Even rappel off the side of a building.
Interested in learning more about Shatterproof? Connect with the organization online—whether you’re sharing your story or scaling a building.