Walk for Recovery returns to Cumming City Center, uniting Forsyth County

Forsyth County’s fight against addiction was on display at Cumming City Center as the Walk for Recovery brought together families, professionals and local leaders around a problem that has touched households, schools, workplaces and emergency crews across the county. The free event, held Sunday afternoon, used a public gathering space to push recovery out of the shadows and into the center of civic life.

Presented by the Forsyth County Drug Awareness Council, the walk was built around a clear public-health message: prevention and recovery work only when the community sees the scale of the crisis. Event materials said it honored the 112,000 lives lost to overdose and addiction in 2023, a reminder that the pain reaching Forsyth County is part of a much larger epidemic. The council says its mission is to educate, advocate and empower the community to prevent substance abuse across the lifespan in Forsyth County.

The event listing at Cumming City Center said the walk included food, musical guests, games, face painting, pizza, resources and community support, all aimed at raising awareness for recovery in Forsyth County. The registration page said professionals and families fighting the stigma and disease of addiction would take part in discussion panels, along with a Memorial Tea Cup lighting ceremony honoring those lost. Guest speakers included Mayor Troy Brumbalow.

The setting mattered. Cumming City Center was designed as a gathering place for neighbors, newcomers and visitors, and the walk used that visibility to normalize conversation about addiction in a place families already know. That choice gave the event a practical edge: it made recovery resources easier to see and easier to reach, especially for residents who may not walk into a formal treatment setting on their own.

The need for that kind of access is growing. Georgia Department of Public Health data show overdose deaths in the state rose sharply beginning in 2020, in part because fentanyl has been found in illicit drugs. The agency reports opioid-involved overdose deaths in Georgia increased 302% from 2010 to 2022, while fentanyl-involved drug overdose deaths rose 308% from 2019 to 2022, from 392 to 1,601.

Forsyth County has also directed opioid settlement money toward overdose-response and recovery efforts, including Narcan purchases and other county programs, showing the walk fit into a broader response already underway. The event also had precedent at Cumming City Center in 2023, when a similar Walk for Recovery drew organizations including Shatterproof, Forsyth County Community Connection, Full Circle, Realty 4 Rehab, No Longer Bound and The Connection. That history signaled the county’s recovery network is not starting from scratch; it is trying to widen the circle of support in a crisis that still reaches too many families.