John Pritchett Email & Phone Number

After a life of homelessness and hardships I made the decision to take my life back. Through personal experience, training and education I've made it my goal to reach out to those who are socioeconomicly challenged and stigmatized and empower them to do the same. In 2017 I began my journey by entering the Human Services program at Ivy Tech Community College. During that time period I had 3 very close friends die from drug overdose, two of which were identical twins who mentored me and while growing up were my protectors. the 3rd was a young man, 23 years of age who I mentored through his recovery process. I was the last person he ever talked to. These tragic losses led me back to an old friend I grew up with in Bloomington Indiana who had lived through similar experiences and started a nonprofit organization that conducts Overdose Reversal Trainings and distributes free Narcan, the overdose reversal drug. My wife and I completed the training, went back to Evansville Indiana and began doing street outreach and holding public Overdose Reversal Trainings free at the local library. We called ourselves the Evansville Recovery Alliance. We quickly became the largest distributor of free Narcan in Southern Indiana. Shortly thereafter we filed our 501c3 and became an official nonprofit organization dedicated to Harm Reduction practices, community outreach and the distribution of free Narcan and other supplies necessary for the health and survival of those in need. I obtained a certification to practice as a Peer Recovery Coach and Community Health Worker Trainer which enables me to officially train those with lives experience allowing them to become gainfully employed in the field of recovery with a pay rate higher than average. As I continue to grow our nonprofit through fundraising and public awareness, I work full-time for the Indiana Recovery Alliance as program coordinator of a state-wide Hepatitis C Elimination plan funded by Gilead Sciences.

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  Ivy Tech Community College

  Human Services, General