Health

International Center for Addiction and Education Awareness (ICARE) Cofounder Selected as Fellow for Rally’s Social Enterprise Accelerator 2022 Winter Program

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Cheryl Brown Merriwether, cofounder and executive director of ICARE Workforce Solutions™

“Rally is committed to addressing intractable problems with social enterprise strategy. We are very excited to help ICARE build sustainable strategies for pursuing their mission of addressing addictions with awareness, prevention and intervention programs,” said Rally COO, Ben Hoyer.


ORLANDO, Fla. (PRWEB)

International Center for Addiction and Recovery Education™ (ICARE) announces Cheryl Brown Merriwether has been chosen to participate in Rally: The Social Enterprise Accelerator. After going through a rigorous evaluation process, Merriwether, cofounder and executive director of ICARE Workforce Solutions™, was named one of eight Rally Fellows to join the 16-week Winter 2022 cohort, which kicks off this month.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, awareness and health education programs—such as those offered by ICARE—are proven universal/primary prevention strategies. Such strategies are the most cost-effective and have the greatest impact on reducing specific health problems across people in a defined population.

“Rally is committed to addressing intractable problems with social enterprise strategy. In this pandemic world the problem of addiction seems to be growing more and more intractable. We are very excited to help ICARE build sustainable strategies for pursuing their mission of addressing addictions with awareness, prevention and intervention programs,” said Ben Hoyer, COO of Rally Social Enterprise Accelerator.

Merriwether brings over two decades of experience in corporate HR management, addiction recovery awareness, and adult education to ICARE. As the executive director, she oversees and directs the administration, operations, and student support services for ICARE’s three divisions. In addition to being an associate faculty member at the University of Phoenix, Cheryl is currently serving a two year term as President of the Greater Orlando Society for Human Resource Management (GOSHRM) and serves on the Board of Directors for Project Opioid, Central Florida.

Founded in 2020, ICARE Workforce Solutions™ is the newest division of ICARE and was created in response to the surge in substance misuse in the workplace due to the pandemic. These critical offerings provide non-clinical awareness and prevention programs designed to help employers meet the needs of their employees, and by extension provide support to their families, loved ones, workplaces and communities regarding substance misuse and addiction.

Based in Orlando, Rally is an international hub for promising social entrepreneurs seeking to impact the world for social good. Founded in 2016, Rally engages social enterprise strategies to solve troublesome problems such as addiction awareness and cyberbullying, both locally and around the world. Rally Fellows in the early stages of their work are carefully paired with Rally Makers who are Orlando’s leading problem solvers. During the four-month program, Fellows receive mentorship, 1:1 coaching, the chance to earn a Future-Ready designation and receive a paid pilot from the City of Orlando.

To date, 47 enterprises and 65 entrepreneurs have completed the accelerator. Rally attracts more women and minority founders than traditional accelerators with 45% of these participants to date being women and 39% being minorities.

About Rally: The Social Enterprise Accelerator

Rally: The Social Enterprise Accelerator’s mission is to create positive social change by propelling qualified social entrepreneurs to build their ideas into self-sustainable ventures within our community. We work with social entrepreneurs in the early stages of developing their product or business who are looking for help or guidance. Rally was launched in 2017 by Central Florida Foundation, Entrepreneurs in Action, Crummer Graduate School of Business and Rollins College, Downtown Credo, Clean the World and City of Orlando. Learn more at rallysea.com.

About International Center for Addiction and Recovery Education (ICARE)

The International Center for Addiction & Recovery Education (ICARE) is a Center of Excellence for bringing together people and processes to overcome the unprecedented societal challenges of addiction. The culmination of 25+ years of work in the field of recovery and addiction, ICARE is deeply rooted in the principles of Resilience and Emotional Sobriety. ICARE is committed to raising the awareness of addiction in our culture and helping individuals live their best lives, free from problematic behaviors and past stigma.

ICARE was founded in 2020 during COVID 19 as a response to the surge in substance misuse occurring during this devastating time in history. The brainchild of Dr. Jean LaCour, ICARE is the parent organization to a trio of affiliated divisions including: NET Training Institute (NTI), the International Association for Professional Recovery Coaches (IAPRC), and Strategic Sobriety Workforce Solutions. Together these three entities provide credentialed training programs to solve the growing global problem of addiction in individuals, families, communities, and the workforce. For more information visit http://www.ICARE-Aware.org.

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