Addiction can hit anyone. And when its victim clocks into work, the effects don’t always clock out. The conversation about addiction is not often had in businesses.

A “Lunch & Learn” event sponsored by the Rotary Club of Warwick will aim to teach business leaders how to approach a situation where an employee may be facing dismissal because of an addiction. The goal of the program is to help business leaders understand how to work toward the betterment of their employees and identify signs and symptoms of addiction.

Dawn Allen, community liaison for Thrive Behavioral Health, is a member of the team hosting the session at New England Institute of Technology from noon to 1:30 p.m.

Thrive is joined by the Central Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce, Kent County Regional Coalition and the Newport Restaurant Group in partnering with the Rotary Club. Bridgemark Addiction Recovery is a co-host of the event.

Allen said this event will pull away from a lecture style and steer toward a discussion.

“It’s really a conversation,” she said.

The event will include a dialogue on alcohol and opioid addiction, talking about how opioids were originally marketed as a safe product before becoming widely misused. 

Christine Harkins executive director of Bridgemark Addiction Recovery said each table at the event would have at least one person trained in addiction recovery who can speak to individuals as a friendly neighbor or as an expert for anyone involved with addiction.

“We were thrilled when the Rotary Club came out with curriculum for recovery,” Harkins said. “It made all the sense in the world to jump in and co-sponsor.”

Harkins said there is a tendency for companies to hire who they believe to be the best of the best candidates and appear as though they aren’t or would not face addiction.

Allen said people may not appear to be affected by addiction. “The face of addiction is not really what the stigma is,” Allen said.

Harkins said that she feels there are not enough people educated in what to do if they witness an accidental overdose. There will be an optional Narcan training after the lunch that will offer education for anyone willing to learn how to save a life. Because of the Good Samaritan Act, anyone trying, within reasonable means, to help another person in a situation where they may have overdosed cannot be prosecuted by the law.

Allen said that Thrive and other partners hope to see business owners and managers from any size company at the event, but welcome anyone willing to participate in this conversation – even just to listen.

Anyone wishing to attend is asked to visit CheckOutRI.com to register by March 16 for the March 20 event.