New Kensington native honored for helping people recover from drug, alcohol addiction
A lifelong New Kensington resident has been recognized for helping people recover from drug and alcohol addiction.
Pittsburgh-based Staunton Farm Foundation announced that VonZell Wade received its Albert B. Craig Jr. Award for this year. He was selected from seven nominees.
Wade, a licensed professional counselor, co-founded Lost Dreams Awakening in New Kensington with his wife, Laurie Johnson-Wade, in 2014 and owns Luo Counseling Center in Lower Burrell.
Dedicated to improving the lives of people living with mental illness and substance abuse disorders, the Staunton Farm Foundation works to enhance behavioral treatment, support and recovery through grants to nonprofit organizations in 10 Southwestern Pennsylvania counties.
Started in 2009, the award Wade received recognizes people “who have challenged society to think in fresh ways about problems and solutions in behavioral health; to forge new paths, whether through uncommon partnerships or new ways of serving people with behavioral health issues; or who have invented a product or process that has alleviated mental illness/addiction,” the foundation said.
It is named for Craig, a Sewickley native who was president of the Staunton Farm Foundation from 1985 to 1991. A professor of physiology and pharmacology at the University of Rochester, Craig was 83 when he died in 2008.
Lost Dreams Awakening’s programs include harm reduction services, peer recovery coaching, family recovery, coaching, grief support education and social events.
A Valley High School graduate, Wade earned a bachelor of arts in human services from Seton Hill University and a master of science in education and a doctorate in counselor education and supervision from Duquesne University.
Wade is a certified trauma professional, a recovery coach trainer of trainers and an adjunct faculty member of Faces & Voices of Recovery in Washington, D.C. He is a co-developer of the state’s Peer Recovery Support Workforce program, a six-week curriculum developed in response to the covid-19 crisis.
Brian C. Rittmeyer is a TribLive reporter covering news in New Kensington, Arnold and Plum. A Pittsburgh native and graduate of Penn State University's Schreyer Honors College, Brian has been with the Trib since December 2000. He can be reached at brittmeyer@triblive.com.
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