Founder Kevin Si meets with Maryland ROPTA, develops actionable plans for 2024-2025

Founder Kevin Si met with members of MarylandROPTA over Zoom on Wednesday to discuss their next steps.

This week, founder of Project Pyxis Kevin Si was invited to speak with the University of Maryland’s Reinforcing Overdose Prevention through Training and Advocacy (ROPTA) organization. He presented the mission, goals, and framework of Project Pyxis to the organization’s leadership, answered their questions about his COMPASS framework, and then discussed their next steps.

The University of Maryland’s ROPTA organization provides free, scholarship-based treatment and therapy options for those struggling with addiction across the entirety of the state of Maryland in the United States. Maryland ROPTA has a wide range of programs from the Youth and Adult Mental Health First Aid program to the Regrounding Our Response program, which is in partnership with the Maryland Department of Health. Maryland ROPTA’s impressive outreach and treatment strategies are made possible by a diverse team of community educators, Ph.D.s, and Masters in Public Health professionals. You can explore more about their efforts with this link: https://marylandropta.org/

As a result of the conference, Project Pyxis is working with Maryland ROPTA to develop a shortened version of their This is Not About Drugs (TINAD) program to implement in all middle and high schools throughout Montgomery County Public Schools and the state of Maryland. Reflecting on this, Kevin commented on how he is “highly inspired” by ROPTA’s “excellence and commitment to combating the opioid crisis”. He is also incredibly “thankful to have been able to connect with Dr. Chan and the rest of the ROPTA team”. Dr. Alexander Chan Ph.D. LMFT, a mental and behavioral health specialist, has years of experience with adolescent mental health and relationships, and was the point of contact for Kevin.