Nobody should have to fight addiction alone. To support those struggling with drug use and their families, we are building a central online hub to find and access prevention, treatment, recovery, and family support resources in the Spokane area.
We are leading our community toward a united and compassionate response to the opioid epidemic. By hosting roundtable discussions, town hall meetings, and community events, we are empowering our community to fight addiction—together.
We carry forward Rayce Rudeen’s love of music with an annual holiday concert to rally the Spokane community around our vision for a healthy community, free from addiction. The Rayce Rudeen Foundation matches ticket sales to support organizations fighting addiction in our community.
2020: Millwood Impact. This donation allowed Millwood Impact to provide food to families in the Millwood community
2021: Compassionate Addiction Treatment
When Kevin Rudeen lost his son to a fentanyl overdose, the racing community was there for him. A team owner of sprint cars for almost 30 years, Kevin founded an annual race to honor his son. The Rayce Rudeen Foundation Race engages the racing community nation-wide in empowering communities to fight addiction.
In partnership with the WSU College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceuticals Sciences, we offer training for Washington nurses to administer NARCAN®, the nasal spray version of the overdose-reversal drug naloxone, in the event of an overdose. Along with this training, the Rayce Rudeen Foundation provides NARCAN® training kits for each nurse to take back to their school. In 2021, we added a new element to this training: a protocol session focused on procedures for the school to follow—as well as follow-up resources to connect students’ families with addiction counseling and treatment.
The Rayce Rudeen Foundation has partnered with the DEA’s Operation Engage, an ongoing project uniting community leaders to increase awareness about fentanyl and provide education to all demographic groups in our community.
Each semester, we work with WSU College of Nursing interns to conduct research in areas of addiction. In 2021, we worked with five interns who worked wholeheartedly in helping the Rayce Rudeen Foundation develop an asset map for our community. Their work and research with local agencies gave the Rayce Rudeen Foundation great insight into the gaps in our system. This work also helped us in the first steps of organizing the logistics of an asset map. To honor the interns’ work and their professor, the Rayce Rudeen Foundation donated $5,000 to the College of Nursing Dean’s Excellence Fund and created an endowment to support ongoing research into addiction.
