Kimmie’s Recovery Zone | Party in the Park event set for Sept. 12 at the Lake Kennedy Center
Kimmie’s Recovery Zone will put on its Party in the Park on Sept. 12 from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Lake Kennedy Center in Cape Coral. PHOTO PROVIDED
A local nonprofit dedicated to assisting individuals with recovery, as well as educating the public, will host an annual event this Saturday in conjunction with National Recovery Month. And for the first time, it takes place in Cape Coral.
Kimmie’s Recovery Zone will put on its Party in the Park on Sept. 12 from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Lake Kennedy Center.
Now in its fifth year, the free community event, held in recognition of National Recovery Month, will bring together individuals in recovery, families, community organizations, healthcare partners and supporters to celebrate recovery, remember lives lost, and connect the community with resources and support.
“Our mission is to reach out to the whole community,” said Kimmie’s Recovery Zone founder Al Kinkle. “One of our big efforts and accomplishments this year was to make sure that we were in Cape Coral taking care of that area. We want to make it known that we’re here — that we care about those living in Cape Coral. We want to say, ‘Hey, you’re not alone. We’re here.'”
Party in the Park will begin with a Circle of Love remembrance gathering at 11 a.m. Guests are invited to bring a photograph of their loved ones to share with others in the vigil circle, and speak the names of those they have lost.
The event will feature a day of family-friendly activities, live music, food, a line-up of industry speakers and more than 30 information booths dedicated to mental health and addiction recovery resources. Attendees will have the opportunity to connect with local support services and engage in conversations about recovery and wellness.
“People can expect people to bond,” Kinkle said. “We honor people that we’ve lost and pray for people that are still out there fighting for recovery. People can gain a lot of information and find representatives that have information for them. The most important thing for people and families is to get the information that they need at their fingertips. If you don’t, it’s a really hard issue. Attendees can learn a lot about mental health and substance abuse disorder. People will also see the beauty of our community. We get together, try to figure out a plan, and work together to change the environment. By having this yearly event, we get people close together to know that they’re not alone, that we’re here, and that we can help.”
Remarks will be made by Sara Barkley, a veteran of the United States Air Force, and someone in long-term recovery since Nov. 5, 2013. She is a respected leader and advocate in the recovery community.
Barkley began her career in recovery services in 2014 and has served in progressively advancing leadership roles, including recovery residence manager, program director, and chief operating officer. She currently serves as chief executive officer of the Fellowship Recovery Community Organization (FRCO), one of Florida’s pioneering Recovery Community Organizations, where she provides strategic and operational leadership for a team of 40 staff members and a recovery housing system serving more than 200 individuals.
Throughout her career, Barkley has been instrumental in expanding peer support, recovery housing, overdose prevention, reentry services and community-based recovery programming. In 2018, in response to the opioid crisis, she helped establish the Fellowship Recovery Community Respite, a lifesaving resource providing short-term recovery support and safe housing for individuals experiencing a return to use. Since its inception, the program has served more than 7,500 individuals.
Barkley also serves as board chair of Floridians for Recovery, Florida’s statewide Recovery Community Organization, and is actively engaged in advancing recovery-oriented systems of care and advocating for recovery at the local, state and national levels.
Kinkle founded Kimmie’s Recovery Zone following the loss of his daughter Kimmie to an overdose of heroin and fentanyl in late 2015. She had been in recovery for two years but struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. She fought her substance misuse and mental health condition for 20 years before losing her battle to drugs.
“I think what happens when (a tragedy) happens to a family, whether it’s me or somebody else, we look for a purpose,” Kinkle said. “We found a purpose to get our message out there so that other people don’t have to go through this painful experience. All of the goals that we had in mind when we started are coming to fruition now. Our footprint has become bigger. We’re helped a lot more people. That’s what keeps us going at Kimmie’s. We have the greatest staff in the world. Our who purpose and path is to help people. For me, Kimmie gave me an opportunity to have another life — and that’s helping people more than I ever have before. This opportunity that presented itself has really nourished my spirit and helped me in my grieving process.”
While data shows overdose numbers in Florida have decreased, that doesn’t mean the fight is over.
“The overdoses are coming down, but you still have addiction,” Kinkle said. “We feel our distribution of Narcan plays a role in these numbers decreasing (more than 100,000 since Kimmie’s inception).”
Kimmie’s Recovery Zone CEO Heidi Webb said, “Pushing Narcan out there is a breath of life. It gives people an opportunity to get into recovery and live a different way. Behind every recovery story is a life reclaimed. Hope can be stronger than addiction.”
Webb added that the event is family-friendly, with many raffle opportunities, kids games, free food and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office ice cream truck.
Kindle said Kimmie’s is also a big supporter of veterans, with various vendors having information for those that have served.
In addition to battling addiction, Kinkle created Kimmie’s Angels, which works with Lee Health and provides financial support for families when a parent is unable to work due to their child’s battle with cancer.
“This story started out to be about Kimmie, but it’s so much more than that today,” he said. “The community really got behind us. The stories we hear change people’s lives. Kimmie’s story is what started it for us. Yes, it is Kimmie and her story, but, it’s all of our stories and we’re saving lives through grief we had.”
For more information on Kimmie’s Recovery Zone, visit kimmiesrecoveryzone.org.
Lake Kennedy Center is at 400 Santa Barbara Blvd., Cape Coral.
To reach CJ HADDAD, please email cjhaddad@breezenewspapers.com