The Hancock County Commission on July 24 approved a proclamation recognizing September 2025 as National Recovery Month and supporting the local “Hancock County Goes Purple” campaign. The commission also voted to contribute county opioid‑recovery funds to the campaign’s organizer, the Hope Dealer Project.

Janet Gordon, executive director of the Brooke/Hancock Family Resource Network, told commissioners the statewide initiative aims to have all West Virginia counties adopt the proclamation to raise awareness about mental and substance use disorders. “This is just a representation to state that all of West Virginia is together in supporting our fellow mountaineers in their journey for sobriety,” Janet Gordon said during her presentation.

The proclamation, read at the meeting, cites National Recovery Month’s purpose “to increase awareness and understanding of mental and substance use disorders and to celebrate those in recovery,” and cites Tara Mason as the founder and executive director of the Hope Dealer Project, the local organizer of the Hancock County Goes Purple campaign. The commission president, Erin Check, signed the proclamation on behalf of the Hancock County Commission.

Commissioners then voted to approve a financial contribution to the Hope Dealer Project for National Recovery Month. The commission recorded the contribution as coming from the county’s opioid‑recovery funds. No dollar amount was specified in the meeting discussion; the motion recorded that the contribution would come from the opioid recovery money maintained by the county.

The commission and presenters emphasized the proclamation’s goals: prevention, treatment and local role in supporting recovery resources. Janet Gordon said the campaign had statewide reach and that this was the first year counties were pursuing a coordinated, statewide proclamation effort.

This action was recorded as an approved proclamation and an approved donation; staff will work with the Hope Dealer Project on implementation of local outreach tied to the proclamation.

Additional context from the meeting: the commission discussed correspondence about flood‑resiliency resources from the West Virginia GIS Technical Center and several routine administrative items before and after the proclamation vote.