Shen grad walking across U.S. to raise awareness for addiction recovery

A 2001 Shen School District graduate is walking across the country, sometimes walking almost 25 miles per day.

Brian Mincher, from Halfmoon, said this journey is about helping raise awareness about the stigma surrounding addiction recovery and to help people who are still facing that battle.

Mincher started in Philadelphia and will walk for about five months to Santa Monica, Calif.

“I prayed on it for like two weeks before I told anyone [about the walk plan] because I thought I was a little nuts,” Mincher said laughing.

Mincher said this was all prompted from his own alcohol addiction recovery, including a stint in jail. He wants to help others avoid that path.

“That’s what this is all about, it really is,” Mincher said. “[It’s about] inspiring people to get help that need it and want it,” Mincher said.

Mincher has been posting videos to a blog throughout his journey and said he plans to journal more about this own recovery in future posts.

He said he hopes his nonprofit – Addiction Across America – can help people fully recover, adding that process is often cut short by pressures to return to “normal life.”

Mincher said he’s paying for this trip through seed money, allowing him to spend some nights in hotels to better recover for his walks the next day. He said he usually walks between 17 and 24 miles per day.

To donate to Mincher’s journey, click HERE.