Every year on the first Saturday in June, Swan Creek Park in Athens becomes a place for struggling people to take a step toward conquering addiction — and to find encouragement in celebrating the testimony of those who’ve successfully done the same.

For the seventh year, the annual Addiction Eviction rally — the vision of founder Lori Masonia — will be held at Swan Creek Park (100 Hwy 31 North in Athens), mixing a festival atmosphere with the local convergence of numerous resources that offer those in need encouragement in seeking assistance.

“It’s a really, really awesome event,” Masonia says. “If you’re facing some kind of addiction and you decide that you want to get help, we have resources like recovery homes, places that deal with mental illness. They set up vendor tables and give out their info, and if you’re ready to get help, they would take you that day.”

Aided by an outpouring of community support that grows with each passing year, Masonia through her faith-based nonprofit Lori Masnoia Ministries has built the rally into a significant date on the Limestone County community’s annual events calendar. This year’s Addiction Eviction rally will kick off at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 7, and though the issue it addresses is serious, there’s an upbeat and optimistic spirit that permeates the day’s activities.

“We have two really popular Christian hip-hop artists who will be coming,” she says. “We have testimonies. We have someone coming from New Mexico; someone from Detroit — people from all over the United States who come to share their stories. It’s a powerful event, and it gets bigger and bigger every year.”

There’s no cost to take part in the rally itself, though food trucks will be on hand throughout the day. The goal, says Masonia, isn’t revenue; it’s “to lead people to Christ and get them help for their addiction.

“The most powerful part happens at 3 p.m. when we have a white dove release. We have a table where people can put the name of a loved one they lost to addiction on a white ballon, and we release the white doves and balloons at the same time. This year we have a special family we’ve invited who lost a loved one to fentanyl, and they are going to speak before we let the doves go.”

Supported through her ministry’s year-‘round fundraising with special help from local companies, the Addiction Eviction rally is a rain-or-shine event that welcomes all attendees as they are. “We have tons of local supporters who help make this happen. Texas Roadhouse donates like 1,000 hot dogs for us; Pepsi brings a trailer,” says Masonia. “Last year was the first year ever that it rained — and still we had hundreds and hundreds of people.”

The rally, she adds, extends a broad invitation across the community, because those facing addiction aren’t the only ones who benefit when those in need decide to reach out and seek help.

“Anybody who’s affected by addiction needs to come. A lot of times, addiction tears the family apart before it ever destroys the addict. It causes divorces. A lot of families can’t survive what addiction does to a child. It doesn’t discriminate. We just want people to know that there’s hope.”