Summary

The King County Council on Tuesday presented the Recovery Champion Award to Brad Finegood, a Behavioral Health Strategic Advisor with Public Health – Seattle & King County.

Story

 Left to right: Recovery Café Executive Director David Coffey, Washington Recovery Alliance Executive Director Ely Hernandez, King County Recovery Coalition Director Heather Venegas, Oxford House Outreach Services Representative Ricky Mogel, Councilmember Reagan Dunn, Councilmember Girmay Zahilay, 2022 Recovery Champion Award recipient Brad Finegood, Councilmember Claudia Balducci, Councilmember Sarah Perry, Councilmember Joe McDermott, Councilmember Rod Dembowski, and Peer Washington Chief Program Officer Cody West.

The King County Council on Tuesday presented the Recovery Champion Award to Brad Finegood, a Behavioral Health Strategic Advisor with Public Health – Seattle & King County. Created this year through legislation proposed by Councilmember Reagan Dunn and co-sponsored by Councilmember Sarah Perry, the Recovery Champion Award recognizes a person or organization within King County that has demonstrated hard work and passion in helping those with substance use disorders.

“Not only is Brad a driving force behind many efforts to combat substance use disorder here in King County, but he has also been incredibly generous with his time, wisdom, and expertise. He has become a reliable resource to me as I’ve worked on this issue,” Dunn said. “It is abundantly clear to anyone who knows Brad that helping people reclaim their lives from a substance use disorder is his life’s passion, and I can think of no one more deserving of this honor.”

Finegood, MA, LMHC, is a Strategic Advisor for Public Health - Seattle & King County on behavioral health matters and recently served as a co-chair of the King County Heroin and Prescription Opiate Task Force. Finegood has worked in the behavioral health field for 25 years in both substance use disorder and mental health direct service and administration. Most importantly, he is the sibling and survivor of a younger sibling who passed away of an overdose. As fatal overdoses continue to surge in King County, Finegood has been a leading advocate for reducing the stigma around substance use disorder, which can discourage people from accessing treatment. He recently supported declaring fentanyl a public health crisis in King County and worked with Councilmember Dunn to expand the “Laced and Lethal” fentanyl overdose awareness campaign. In addition, Dunn tapped Finegood to lead a session titled “Fentanyl is a Public Health Crisis” at the most recent King County Conference on Substance Use Disorders.

“It is such an honor to be given the first ever Recovery Champion Award by the King County Council. This award means so much to me. It is truly a testament that recovery is possible for anyone and everyone,” Finegood said. “In receiving this award, I also want to recognize my colleagues in King County who work to create systems to uplift people and squash stigma towards substance use disorder. To the many individuals working with people with behavioral health challenges at organizations across the county –walking beside people on their path to recovery – I thank you. And to all the people out there who may be struggling using alcohol or drugs in the community, just know there is hope, and help for you today.”

The King County Council created the Recovery Champion Award last week by a unanimous vote, making Finegood its first recipient. Going forward, the award will be presented annually each September in conjunction with National Recovery Month.