Jeff Horwitz, Chief Executive Officer for the SAFE Project, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and talked about his journey to the organization, what the organization does and barriers faced when educating workers and leaders on opioid addiction and mental health issues.
After spending nearly three decades in the Navy and a stop as General Counsel for the White House, Horwitz did not know what to do with his career following his transition out of active duty. In 2017, Horwitz joined the SAFE Project, and despite his belief that it would only be a temporary stop, he is now the CEO and has no plans to leave the organization. The mission-driven focus of the project is to help ensure people who need help can be provided the resources needed to overcome prescription pill addiction and mental health issues.
The organization’s focus is to ensure that someone is fighting to address the causes behind prescription pill addiction and creating a support village to assist. There is a branch that deals with college and university students. Another focuses on the military, and the third branch of the organization deals strictly with businesses and the trades. Each branch of the organization is focused on the discussions with its target audience and speaks to them about the issues that are most prevalent for each group.
A major barrier faced by the SAFE Project is the stigma surrounding prescription pill addiction and mental health conversations. The main way the organization fights the stigma is to educate its audience and provide information about the challenges that cause the issues. When the project can educate the building trades leaders, there have been improvements in the ability to have tough conversations. Horwitz believes there is a path to overcome addictions and mental health issues, as SAFE Project encourages all of their partners to say the same thing and provide the same information, in order to create more unity in the message.
To hear more from Horwitz and the SAFE Project, listen to the show above.