Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, April 8, 2024

Contact: Victoria Panzera, 302-753-7684

 

Rep. Blunt Rochester Remarks at Press Event Celebrating Federal Investment in Recovery Housing in Delaware

 

WILMINGTON, Del. – Today, Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) gave remarks at a press event celebrating nearly a half-million-dollar investment in federal funding for Limen Recovery and Wellness in Wilmington, Delaware, to help combat addiction and the opioid epidemic. Below are her remarks as delivered: 

 

[Senator Tom Carper], I will start off by saying just how grateful Delaware is to have you as our treasurer, our governor, our congressman, and our senator, and I don't know what's in store for you next, but I know it will be something of service.

 

As Senator Coons said, you have a servant's heart and thank you for being our friend and our mentor, as well. So, I'm going to give it up!

 

And to Senator Coons, [your remarks were] an incredible, real testimony to what this is really all about today. Thank you for sharing both the professional as well as the personal…Thank you for also sort of putting into context why today is so important.

 

And to the Mikes, and Mikes and Ashley, and the board members and the staff, the incredible staff here, thank you so much for what you do every day. 

 

There are others around this room who are participating in major consortia to make sure that we see the trajectory of drug overdoses in the state change. 

 

We, we recently got some positive news. But we know that there is so much more to be done. 

 

And so today, as was stated, is good news. This is a good day. This, this is the day that the Lord has made and we’re gonna rejoice. 

 

It looks like we're gonna rejoice in the fact that funding is coming to ensure that individuals and their families get the help and support that they need and are able to recover and be well. And so I'm glad to be here. 

 

It's been mentioned that these used to be called earmarks, which we don't do anymore. And in the House, we have a completely different name. It's Community Project Funding, because it has to have a real community need and it must have real community support.

 

Not just one person, but real community need and support for our projects in the House - we get a very limited number that we can fund.

 

And so our Senators, especially Senator Carper, as he talked about, we're fortunate in Delaware that we work in such great partnership. So that in that first year when this took place, I only got to pick 10 projects, but I had 150 organizations apply. 

 

Fortunately, because of the partnership, a strong partnership, we work together and say, “This is one I can't fund but can you guys take a look at this?” And then adding Senator Coons as appropriator on that committee of jurisdiction, that helps too, so we're really fortunate to have them. 

 

I don't call them, I never called them earmarks. I always call them “cheer marks,” because they make people happy. So I am glad to be here to support Limen House. 

 

The last time I was here, I guess it was in the summer. And yeah, it was in the summer and just had this incredible tour, got to meet with some of the staff and hear the great work that you're doing. 

  

But the reason why to me that's so special is because it was a place of creativity… to see the creativity that is put into this building, the beauty that is put into this building, to provide those who are recovering with a space and a place where they can breathe, where they can feel home, where they can know that they will be on the road to recovery. 

 

I think about the work that we did for the American Rescue Plan to help support Limen House.

 

I think about what we're doing today that will help support Limen House, but also the 140,000 Delaware adults that are living with substance use disorder, and the many people who will walk through these doors and be able to get the services that they need and the support. 

 

But I also am just grateful to be a partner with all of the organizations out here…

 

For me, I'm fortunate that we get to work on bills in the House. I have legislation called the Naloxone Affordability Act. I have to Stop the Fentanyl Overdoses Act. And as I mentioned, we've passed some major legislation through the Safer Communities Act, but really, it's the work that's done right here on the ground that makes the difference. 

 

You know, the Senator is correct. I don't think there's a person in here who has not been touched. 

 

Whether it is an employer - you know there are a lot of people who are struggling at work whether it is a child of a parent, or I remember as a niece, watching my grandparents struggle with my uncles…That's what this is about. 

 

This is about uplifting our friends, our neighbors, our brothers, our sisters. 

 

That's what this is about. 

 

And so, to every single person in this room for the part that you play - thank you. 

 

I'm just grateful to be a partner with you. 

 

As we save lives, give hope, help people to go over that threshold into a new and beautiful promising future. 

 

We are grateful and we will continue to work with you.

 

###