{"id":38212,"date":"2023-07-26T10:37:29","date_gmt":"2023-07-26T14:37:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/?p=38212"},"modified":"2023-07-26T10:54:59","modified_gmt":"2023-07-26T14:54:59","slug":"announcing-the-winner-2023-peoples-choice-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/announcing-the-winner-2023-peoples-choice-award\/","title":{"rendered":"The people have spoken: Announcing the winner of our 2023 People’s Choice Award"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On July 20, the Partnership for Public Service announced that, after weeks of voting, Megan Meacham, Allison Hutchings, Sarah O\u2019Donnell<\/a><\/ins> and the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program Team won the 2023 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals\u00ae<\/a> People\u2019s Choice Award. More than 75,000 votes were cast to determine this year\u2019s winner.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2022, this Health Resources and Services Administration team worked to create a major initiative that provides grants for prevention, treatment and recovery services to help millions of people suffering from opioid use in rural communities across the country.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To celebrate this win, the team discussed its work during the latest installment of the Partnership\u2019s Sammies Summer Series<\/a><\/ins>. Viewers can watch the full video<\/a> of the event on the Partnership\u2019s YouTube page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meeting the needs of rural communities<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Rural areas throughout the United States are struggling with the opioid epidemic. To help address this public health crisis, Meacham, Hutchings and O\u2019Donnell set up and now manage the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program, or RCORP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initiated five years ago, RCORP has invested over $500 million and served more than 2 million people a year in more than 1,800 rural counties across 47 states and two U.S. territories.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Sammies Summer Series, featuring (clockwise starting from top left) the Partnership’s Rachel Klein-Kircher, Megan Meacham, Allison Hutchings and Sarah O’Donnell. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

RCORP\u2019s initiative addresses all aspects of opioid prevention, treatment and recovery. The program funds customized approaches and programs tailored to each community and its needs, and<\/a> includes partnerships with a range of local community members and groups, such as first responders, churches, criminal justice representatives, schools and individuals who have had personal experience with substance use disorders. In all, more than 3,000 organizations partner with RCORP grantees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hutchings, deputy director of HRSA\u2019s Rural Strategic Initiatives Division, calls the opioid crisis an \u201call-hands-on-deck issue\u201d that requires specialists working across different sectors and different levels of government to collaborate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRural communities face a series of unique challenges when it comes to providing treatment to substance use disorder,\u201d added O\u2019Donnell, team lead for the Rural Strategic Initiatives Division. \u201cIt\u2019s been amazing to see how these communities have come together to address these challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Meacham, Hutchings, and O\u2019Donnell, this work illustrates the appeal of working in public service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s striking about working in the federal government is the breadth of opportunities,\u201d O\u2019Donnell said. \u201cTo serve the U.S. population is an incredible honor.\u201d Meacham echoed this sentiment, stating \u201cthere\u2019s a place for everyone [in government].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Today, Meacham, Hutchings, O\u2019Donnell and the RCORP team are continuing to address the needs of rural communities affected by the opioid epidemic. To learn more about the team and other outstanding Sammies finalists, check out servicetoamericamedals.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Partnership will announce the winners of this year\u2019s Service to America Medals\u00ae in October.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On July 20, the Partnership for Public Service announced that, after weeks of voting, Megan Meacham, Allison Hutchings, Sarah O\u2019Donnell and the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program Team won the 2023 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals\u00ae People\u2019s Choice Award. More than 75,000 votes were cast to determine this year\u2019s winner.   In 2022, this Health Resources…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":206,"featured_media":38215,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sort-date":"","content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9006],"tags":[9154,9647],"class_list":["post-38212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-recognition","tag-peoples-choice-award","tag-service-to-america-medals"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAnnouncing the winner of our 2023 People's Choice Award<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Partnership for Public Service is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that strives for a more effective government for the American people.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/announcing-the-winner-2023-peoples-choice-award\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The people have spoken: Announcing the winner of our 2023 People's Choice Award\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"More than 75,000 votes were cast to choose the winners of the 2023 Service to America Medals\u00ae People's Choice Award. 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