Press Release - Simply Interactive Supports Local Non-Profit
Redwood City, CA (May 16, 2006) – Substance abuse and recovery aren’t light-hearted subjects, but both topics will be on the bill Monday night at the San Jose Improv. The occasion will be a fundraiser for ARH Recovery Homes, Inc, the largest provider of drug and alcohol recovery services to Santa Clara County. Headlining will be nationally known comic Mark Lundholm; also on the program will be the first public screening of a video that spotlights ARH’s crucial work in helping addicts – and their families – escape the vicious cycle of abuse.
The video was produced by Simply Interactive LLC of Redwood City, and directed and edited by Simply Interactive president Rusty Worden. The project had special meaning for Worden – who himself was once an addict.
In April, Worden marked his 11th year of being clean and sober. Today he is married, the father of three children, and head of a growing multimedia company. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, however, he was on an accelerating downward spiral of addiction – alienated and drifting between Hollywood and the Bay Area. He credits a CityTeam program in San Jose with turning his life around. Years afterward, working as a multimedia and web developer at Cisco Systems, he was introduced to ARH by a Cisco manager who knew nothing of his drug past. She only knew that he was an active supporter of Cisco programs aimed at giving back to the community.
ARH's family-oriented recovery centers touched a chord in Worden. By then, a parent himself, he was impressed by the way facilities like the ARH-Parisi House on the Hill kept mothers out of jail, kept their children out of foster homes, and allowed them to go through treatment together in a positive, supportive environment.
"What hit home with me was their focus on the social impact of addiction," says Worden. "It’s not just the individual addicts who are affected by the disease; it’s also everyone around them. ARH doesn’t just help people recover their lives; they help families recover their wholeness."
Worden later was able to offer ARH the services of his own company, Simply Interactive, to create a video that would convey the value that ARH provides to the community. The non-profit happily accepted, and Worden led a camera crew that spent three days visiting facilities like ARH-House on the Hill and ARH-Mariposa Lodge, as well as taping in ARH’s San Jose headquarters, and in the South County kitchen of a former House on the Hill client. At each stop, the Simply Interactive crew documented stories of addictions defeated, families reconnected, careers rebuilt.
"We’re proud that our video will be on the program at the Improv event," says Worden, "but we’re even happier that it will continue helping to spread the word about the way ARH is making an impact in the South Bay. We hope it will encourage similar programs in other areas."
For more information on the May 22, 2006 ARH fundraiser at the Improv, see:
http://www.arhinc.org
To view an online version of the video, see:
http://www.simplyinteractive.com
Simply Interactive LLC offers comprehensive video production services, development of CD-based interactive media, e-learning creation, and a full suite of web services.
Contact: Jim Hatlo, Vice-president, (650) 365-3355 office, (408) 858-1388 mobile; jhatlo@simplyinteractive.com.
