China Darrington

China Darrington, Board President

China Darrington is a person in long-term recovery from many things: substance use disorders, mental health challenges, complex trauma and human trafficking.  

She came into recovery as a pregnant/parenting woman and is passionate about developing programs and systems that keep parents strong, kids safe and families connected.  She's been involved for the past 15 years in peer recovery support services and has developed a strong advocacy voice for recovery oriented systems of care. 

She is the Director of Advocacy and Public Policy for Thrive Peer Recovery Services and works at the local, state and federal level to raise awareness, fight stigma, increase understanding, reduce harm and change systems so that it's easier to find the support and access the services and resources needed to improve lives and thrive in recovery.

She has been the Project Coordinator for the Summit County Opiate & Addiction Task Force, a community coalition with over 800+ members who are working across healthcare, public awareness, harm reduction, criminal justice, young people and family support to abate the addiction and overdose crisis.

She's has also been a Program Administrator for a large behavioral health provider in Summit County, where she ran a peer-led Recovery Outreach Center and and the peer support component for emergency departments with patients with substance use disorder or behavioral health needs.

She's involved with the Summit Recovery Hub, because she's a lifelong resident of Summit County, and wants to help create an ecosystem of recovery in her home community so that the the systems is easier for someone with a behavioral health disorder to navigate, access quality integrated services within their community and to help anyone seeking recovery, be able to sustain that recovery.