BOSTON — The Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (P.A.A.R.I.) has been named a finalist in the Innovation category for the 2020 Nonprofit Excellence Awards.
The awards are presented each year by the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network, a statewide organization that strengthens and advocates for the Massachusetts nonprofit sector. The Innovation award recognizes a nonprofit organization that has utilized new models or strategies to solve long-standing problems, or to adapt to a challenging environment.
“We are thrilled to be a finalist for this incredible distinction,” P.A.A.R.I. Executive Director Allie Hunter said. “Our innovative work with public health and public safety agencies has saved thousands of lives and this nomination is a testament to our partners’ steadfast commitment to helping those with substance use disorders enter into recovery.”
P.A.A.R.I. is one of five finalists in the Innovation category. In all, judges for MNN reviewed over 130 nominations, narrowing that list down to 28 finalists in six categories.
The winners of the 2020 Nonprofit Excellence Awards will be announced at the virtual Nonprofit Awareness Day: A Celebration of Nonprofit Excellence presented by Citizens Bank on Wednesday, June 24 at 10 a.m.
The event is free for all MNN nonprofit and affiliate members, and $25 for non-members. Click here to register and for more information.
Executive Director Hunter was chosen as the winner in the Young Professional category at the MNN’s 2017 Nonprofit Excellence Awards.
About P.A.A.R.I.
The Police Assisted Addiction & Recovery Initiative (P.A.A.R.I.) is a nonprofit organization with a mission to help law enforcement agencies nationwide create non-arrest pathways to treatment and recovery. Founded alongside the groundbreaking Gloucester MA Police Department Angel Initiative in June 2015, P.A.A.R.I. has been a driving force behind this rapidly expanding community policing movement. We provide technical assistance, coaching, grants, and other capacity-building resources to more than 550 police departments in 35 states. We currently work with more than 130 law enforcement agencies in Massachusetts alone. P.A.A.R.I. and our law enforcement partners are working towards a collective vision where non-arrest diversion programs become a standard policing practice across the country, thereby reducing overdose deaths, expanding access to treatment, improving public safety, reducing crime, diverting people away from the criminal justice system, and increasing trust between law enforcement and their communities. Our programs and partners have saved thousands of lives, changed police culture, reshaped the national conversation about the opioid epidemic and have placed over 24,000 people into treatment since its founding in June 2015. Learn more at paariusa.org.
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