Mark Farley Named To ARC Substance Abuse Advisory Council

The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) has named UCHRA and UCDD Executive Director Mark Farley to its Substance Abuse Advisory Council (SAAC).

Farley said he looks forward to representing the Upper Cumberland and advocating for the people of the region.

“The Appalachian Regional Commission is an entity that does a lot of work in our region. They’ve supplied a lot of funds to try to solve a lot of the economic conditions we are under,” Farley said. “Substance abuse is a huge issue that every community is dealing with right now. I’m very thrilled to be able to talk about our region and how programs can be implemented on our level.”

The UCDD officially made the announcement Monday via a press release.

Farley said having an Upper Cumberland representative on the council will benefit the region’s fight against substance abuse.

“It’s really an honor to get to be a part of a group like this,” Farley said. “It allows me to be in an early stage with a lot of high-level thinking about solutions to this problem. Hopefully, we’ll be able to learn from that here in the Upper Cumberland and maybe have a leg-up on everybody else in trying to solve that problem.”

The 24-person council consists of members from 13 states from Mississippi to New York representing approximately 420 counties.

According to the release, SAAC members will meet throughout the summer and present recommendations to the ARC in September on how the commission can help address substance abuse issues.