We Believe

The Smithers Foundation, Inc., online at SMITHERSFOUNDATION.ORG®, concentrates its efforts on educating the public that alcohol use disorder and opioid use disorder are respectable, treatable medical illness from which people can and do recover; encouraging prevention programs and activities, with an emphasis on high risk populations; and continually fighting to reduce and eliminate the stigma that is associated with the medical illness of addiction.

“The solution to the opioid crises now is funding for medical treatment that uses proven medical strategies for the primary and aftercare treatment of opioid addiction.”

– Christopher Smithers

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Our Focus

Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD)

Over 15 million Americans suffer from alcohol use disorder, a medical illness that can impact every aspect of a person’s life. The Smithers Foundation funds and collaborates with new and innovative projects that educate and inform the public and provide help and hope in addressing the problems of alcohol use disorder. AUD is a treatable medical illness from which people can and do recover with the appropriate medical care.

Our Impact

Opioid Use Disorder (OUD)

Over 2.5 million Americans are addicted to opioids but fewer than 50% of private sector treatment programs offer medications for opioid use disorder and only one-third of patients in those programs receive them. Like other medical conditions, to stabilize and manage opioid use disorder requires a medical model, using one of three FDA-approved medications that significantly diminish cravings and reduce the risk of relapse.

Our Impact

The Honorable Patrick J. Kennedy said, His family is to politics as the Smithers family is to the addiction field.

Our Legacy

The Smithers Foundation, Inc. was founded in 1952 by R. Brinkley Smithers in memory of his late father. Originally, the purpose of the Foundation was to carry on the charitable activities pursued by Mr. Christopher D. Smithers during his lifetime. However, after attending the Yale School of Alcohol Studies in 1956, R. Brinkley Smithers decided that the family charitable foundation should concentrate on alcohol use disorder, and educating the public that alcohol use disorder is a medical illness.

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More News

LICADD: The 31st Annual Adele C. Smithers Angel Ball May 2018

The Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (LICADD) raised a record-shattering $358,000 in support of LICADD’s substance abuse counseling and educational programs at their 31st Annual Adele C. Smithers Angel Ball, celebrating 62 years of “Recovery…One Step at a Time,”.

LICADD also honored Ms. Brinkley Smithers and Mr. Rob Smyth, as Community Champions, for the creation and production of the “Hey Charlie” public service announcement that highlights the spiraling effects of substance use. Photographed from left to right: Dr.Jeffrey Reynolds, Christopher Smithers and Steve Chassman.

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Chris & Brinkley Smithers
on NBC

Chris Smithers and his daughter, Brinkley Smithers, join NBC News 4 in New York to discuss how Brinkley was inspired to create the “Hey Charlie” PSA to help #StopTheSpiral of opioid addiction.

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