In 2023 and 2024, drug overdose rates in Iowa exceeded 450 annually, but by mid-year 2025, officials were reporting more than a 7 percent drop in overdose deaths in Iowa, due in part to education and access to help.

“People should know what to look for as far as signs of an overdose, the things that impact families such as loss of a loved one, the fight to help a person suffering from addiction, and the support needed for those in recovery and the resources of where help can be found,” said Denise Ryder, who has been part of outreach events with CFR.

Each year, CFR provides community education and outreach focused around International Overdose Awareness Day, a day dedicated to remembering those lost to overdose and educating the public about prevention and treatment resources. CFR’s efforts for this day focus on sharing stories of those who have experienced the loss of a family member or friend to overdose, as well as providing information on substance use disorders and showcasing the availability of lifesaving tools like Naloxone.

“If you think this doesn’t affect you or isn’t going to affect your all-American family, your ‘good kid,’ you’re dead wrong,” said Ryder. “This opioid epidemic doesn’t discriminate in any way. It doesn’t matter if you’re from an affluent family or a poor family — it just doesn’t discriminate.”

In addition to overdose education awareness, CFR also works closely with families and community partners to strengthen community health with counseling, educational programs, and community outreach.

In 2025, CFR welcomed Rhiannon Rippke-Koch, a licensed mental health counselor, as a mental health therapist, and in 2024, psychiatric provider, Dr. Angela McGregor.

CFR also continues to bridge the gap between treatment and independent living, having expanded its housing options.

In 2024, it opened Serenity House on South 17th Street in Fort Dodge. Just one year prior, it opened the community’s first women’s recovery house, offering structured housing for women transitioning out of treatment.

“Recovery housing is an important aspect of the continuum of care for individuals with substance use disorders, offering ongoing treatment, comprehensive resources, and peer support,” said Michelle De La Riva, the executive director of CFR. “A recovery house is not simply transitional housing, but an extension of the therapeutic community.”

Serenity House provides long-term recovery housing for up to eight women at a time, in addition to the nine who reside at the recovery house.

“We are certainly blessed to have a community that cares about us,” said De La Riva. “We’ve found that people who go through residential and then the halfway house-type programs like this recovery house, the likelihood of them staying sober is much higher.”