Press release:
Batavia native Christen Ferraro has been hired by Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse as project coordinator of the Genesee-Orleans-Wyoming Opioid Task Force.
GCASA Executive Director John Bennett announced the appointment of Ferraro, who received her bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences Interdisciplinary with a concentration in community and mental health from the University of Buffalo earlier this year.
A Batavia High School graduate, Ferraro said she recently moved back to Batavia from Buffalo and is excited to connect with task force stakeholders in the tri-county area.
“I missed the community and am thankful to be able to have a role in bringing agencies and people together to take on this epidemic,” Ferraro said. “Our goal is to continue the momentum that Allison (Parry-Gurak) has developed.”
Ferraro is replacing Parry-Gurak, who accepted the director of treatment position at GCASA’s Albion clinic.
As part of her college program, Ferraro served as an intern with the Genesee-Orleans Youth Bureau from August 2018 through May 2019, assisting with event planning, supervision, Youth Court and Youth Lead.
The GOW Opioid Task Force currently has more than 350 members from across the tri-county region.
Members represent various sectors of the community, including public health, mental health, human services, local government, substance use disorder treatment and recovery agencies, law enforcement, EMS, faith-based groups, health systems and medical practitioners, education, businesses, concerned individuals, families, and individuals in recovery.
The task force project coordinator oversees six “work groups” – access to care, community education, data, family & loved ones, law enforcement and Naloxone, and two subcommittees – hospital policies and faith-based – and provides periodic progress reports to a steering committee.
For more information about the GOW Task Force, go to www.gowopioidtaskforce.org.
Photo: Christen Ferraro, new project coordinator of the GOW Task Force, at her desk at GCASA in Batavia.
Disclosure: Story written by Mike Pettinella, GCASA publicist.
