Two men from Minnesota on a mission to bring awareness to underserved mental health community will be stopping in Chattanooga Sunday.
John Lennox is the creator of The Recovery Road, a national campaign to start conversations about lives lost to drugs, alcohol, and suicide:
“I’m tired of watching people die. In 2024, we lost 307,000 lives to drugs, alcohol, and suicide – and the systems meant to help are still broken, underfunded, and drowning in stigma. Mostly because we view the system as a cost center. But what if we viewed it as an investment fund? It cost $50,000 to get me the help I needed. The return on that investment? Tens of millions of dollars back into the economy – through work, service, and giving back. And I’m just one story. Imagine what’s possible if we invest in thousands more.”
His friend and walking partner, former Minnesota Viking Everson Griffen, is joining him on the trail. Griffen played 12 seasons with the team and is recognized as one of the best defensive ends in the league.
“Everson has had a very well-documented struggle in behavioral health through negative media coverage, and just 2 days before Jason was departing on The Recovery Road, he found a walking partner in Everson.”
They’re walking all through several Appalachian states: West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
Money raised during the walking campaign will be given to mental health and addiction programs, organizers say.
Both will stop in Chattanooga Sunday after noon before heading to Nashville for the INvest Conference in Nashville on Wednesday, October 22.