Impact Life

New Weekly Yoga Class Starting This Monday! 🧘‍♂️

We're excited to announce that beginning this Monday, we'll be offering Afternoon Yoga every week at the Wilmington Recovery Café!

Join us from 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM for a relaxing and restorative hour of movement, mindfulness, and connection. Whether you're new to yoga or an experienced practitioner, all are welcome.

✨ Free to attend
📍 Wilmington Recovery Café
🗓 Every Monday
🕛 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

Take a break, stretch, breathe, and invest in your well-being. We hope to see you on the mat!

MEMORANDUM
To: Anyone weighing Senate Bill 249
From: The Delaware Project
Date: June 17, 2026
Subject: Senate Bill 249 — A Reply to a Memorandum

A memorandum is now circulating against SB 249. It runs over a thousand words, signs off "Thank you," and arrives in the visual idiom of a serious argument: MEMORANDUM, TO, FROM, DATE, SUBJECT. We thought we would meet it in its own register.

Three observations — not about the author, but about the pattern, which is everywhere now and steadily worse for the towns it occupies.

OBSERVATION 1: A list of credentials is not a finding of fact. The memo lists, by the author's own account, distributing naloxone, distributing fentanyl test strips, driving people to treatment, and administering overdose-reversal medication. These are not arguments against harm reduction. These ARE harm reduction. They are also exactly the work that SB 249 expands. Set the biography next to the conclusion, and the author is testifying against his own résumé.

OBSERVATION 2: A declaration is not an analysis. The memo asserts, "Harm reduction as a strategy is a failure being abandoned around the nation." It is not. The CDC publishes a harm-reduction framework. The National Institutes of Health funds harm-reduction research. The American Medical Association supports it as policy. The great majority of states have authorized syringe service programs. Delaware's own Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health credits the state's existing harm-reduction work with a 36 percent decrease in overdose mortality from 2023 to 2024 — as reported by Delaware Public Media on May 15, the day after SB 249 passed the Senate. "Being abandoned around the nation" is not a fact. It is a feeling, dressed in a memo.

OBSERVATION 3: A conflation is not an argument. The memo describes shutting down drug houses and paraphernalia businesses — illegal commercial enterprises — then warns that SB 249 will "bring it back in another form." A drug house is not a harm-reduction program. A syringe service is not a shooting. Treating them as the same thing is how bad policy gets made: you mistake the cure for the disease.

So — what does SB 249 actually do?

It expands what Delaware has been doing for nearly twenty years, since the state created its first sterile-needle program in 2006, when Delaware had the fifth-highest HIV infection rate in the country. It requires programs to provide referrals to primary and behavioral health care (§ 4804(c)) and to assist participants with housing, transportation, and benefits enrollment (§ 4804(d)). It authorizes the Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health to coordinate with state, county, and municipal police on voluntary deflection pathways—connecting people to treatment rather than jail (§ 4803(d), added by Senate Amendment 2 and passed 15–6 on May 14). It does not legalize drugs. It does not authorize sales. It does not eliminate criminal penalties for trafficking, distribution, or sale to minors.

In plain English: the bill is the most evidence-based approach Delaware has available, written by the chair of the Senate's Health and Social Services Committee, building on twenty years of state practice. Harm reduction, dollar for dollar, is among the most cost-effective public-health interventions ever measured by the CDC.

In plain English: the argument against it is a credential, a conflation, and a feeling. None of those will save a life. None of those will reduce a death. None of those will lower the cost. They will keep doing what bad discourse always does — make our towns harder, recovery longer, and the next memorandum easier to write.

We are not for or against memos. We are for reading. SB 249 is ten pages. Read it. Then read the argument against it. And ask yourself, gently, which document is doing the work.

Thank you.

— The Delaware Project

Thank you to everyone who showed up at Legislative Hall today to support SB 249. The community absolutely showed up.

The vulnerability in that room was powerful. Families shared heartbreaking stories of loss, reminding us exactly why this legislation matters. We also heard a lot of misinformation, stigma, and the belief that there is only one path to recovery. The reality is that we will never arrest our way out of addiction. Arrest and incarceration are not the solution. Compassion, healthcare, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery support save lives.

A huge thank you to Senator Marie Pinkney, Representative Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha, and Representative DeShanna Neal for sharing why this legislation matters and for their leadership.

Thank you also to our very own Enzo Upole and Dennis Vickery as well as all our community partners, advocates, and supporters, including Jill Fredelle, Theresa Rann, Penny Rogers, Holly Rybinski, Ma Van, Babita and so many others who helped educate, organize, and mobilize support. A special thank you to Leslie Palladino and Devin Reaves for organizing and training as well as Joe Aronson for bringing facts, data, and evidence to the conversation and helping ensure the discussion remained grounded in reality.

SB 249 is about one thing: keeping people alive. Recovery isn’t always the end goal, and that’s okay. Every person deserves dignity, compassion, and access to life-saving healthcare, regardless of where they are on their journey.

❤️

📅 Save the Date! 🎉🏆

Get ready for an afternoon of fun, friendly competition, and community at our Annual Field Day!

Join us on September 19th from 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM for games, activities, laughter, and memories with friends old and new. Whether you're competing for bragging rights or just coming to enjoy the day, there's something for everyone.

Mark your calendars now—we'll be sharing more details as the event gets closer!

🎉 Impact Life's Annual Field Day
📅 September 19 - New Castle County
🕐 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Support our friends at FSARR and celebrate Pride in style! 🌸🌈

Join FSARR for their LGBTQIA+ Garden Party, a joyful gathering filled with community, connection, and celebration. This special event helps support their important work while creating a welcoming space to honor and uplift the LGBTQIA+ community.

🎟️ Get your tickets today and don't wait!
👉 https://secure.qgiv.com/for/gapar202/event/gardenparty2026/

Help us spread the word by liking, sharing, and tagging your friends. Let's come together to celebrate love, inclusion, and community! 🏳️‍🌈

Garden Party 2026 Join us for our Rainbow Garden Party on June 26th from 5:30–9:30 PM, an inspiring and impactful evening dedicated to expanding inclusive recovery support in our community.

Registration is OFFICIALLY LIVE for the 2026 Harm Reduction Conference! 🎉

We're excited to welcome professionals, advocates, peers, community members, and changemakers from across the region for another incredible day of learning, connection, and collaboration.

⚠️ Registration is required to attend.

This conference sells out every year, so we strongly encourage you to secure your spot as soon as possible before registration closes!

Register today:
https://whova.com/portal/registration/FDTDyA1gDQAIRsXT2GIy/

Don't miss your chance to be part of one of the region's premier harm reduction events. We can't wait to see you there! ❤

Trust the Signs ✨

Have you ever felt a nudge, a gut feeling, or noticed signs pointing you in a certain direction? Join us for Trust the Signs, a workshop designed to help you connect with your intuition and build confidence in the guidance you receive.

Through discussion, reflection, and practical exercises, you'll explore ways to strengthen your intuition so you can move through daily life with greater clarity, alignment, and trust in yourself.

📅 June 25, 2026
🕕 6:00–7:30 PM
📍 Georgetown Recovery Hub

Your intuition is always speaking—come learn how to listen. 💫

✨ Craft. Connect. Empower. ✨

Join us in Georgetown tomorrow for a creative and inspiring DIY Oracle Cards Workshop! Create your own personalized deck of empowering oracle cards filled with your intentions, affirmations, wisdom, and unique energy.

Whether you're looking to explore self-discovery, spark creativity, or connect with others in a supportive environment, this workshop is for you.

🕕 6:00–7:30 PM
📍 Georgetown Recovery Hub
112 N. Bedford St.
Georgetown, DE 19947

Come create something meaningful and leave with a one-of-a-kind tool for reflection, growth, and empowerment. 💜