Stacy Emminger is passionate about helping others. The executive director of Donegal Substance Abuse Alliance (DSAA) works tirelessly to find resources and provide programming to support people affected by substance use. Now she's being recognized for her efforts.

Emminger will be presented with the Catherine Caron "Heart of the Family" Award at the 25th annual Central Pennsylvania Community Awards Breakfast on Wednesday, Sept. 27. Hosted by Caron, an organization focused on managing and treating substance use disorder, the event pays tribute to people and organizations that have made a contribution in the ongoing battle against alcohol and drug addiction.

Emminger was familiar with Caron and knew about the awards, but she didn't give it much thought until she received an email saying she had won. It turned out her employee Beth Brandt had nominated Emminger for the honor. The "Heart of the Family" Award is named in honor of Catherine Caron, who opened her home to people in need and is the founder of Caron's Family Education Program. The award recognizes caregivers for the dignity, respect and support they provide when people struggling with substance use disorder need it the most.

Emminger knows firsthand what it's like to have a loved one affected by the disorder. Her son, Anthony Perez, died from a heroin overdose in 2014 at age 23 after struggling with drug addiction for 10 years.

"It tore our family apart," Emminger said of her son's drug use. "I want parents to know that there is somewhere you can go to get help. You feel helpless and powerless when your kid is addicted, and so many bad things happen that we don't talk about. I want them to know there is a place to go and talk about it with somebody who's going to understand."

DSAA offers a variety of educational programs and resources for individuals and families. The organization also recently received a second two-year grant for its Recovery Capital Program, which will be used to support new programming, including the addition of a forensic peer specialist. "This is someone who not only is in recovery from addiction, but also has served time in prison and understands the challenges of being released back into the community," Emminger explained. "With this program, we meet people at the door when they get out of prison, and we work to set them up with a place to live, get them to probation meetings or drug and alcohol testing and provide any support we can."

She's also developing a reentry support group for people to find help facing some of the barriers in their way upon release from prison.

Although she's honored to be receiving the Caron award, Emminger emphasized that she doesn't do anything for the accolades.

"I'm always happy to talk about DSAA, but I struggle with receiving awards because to me, I'm just doing my work," she said. "DSAA saved my life, and I want to be there to help other people."

For more information on the awards breakfast or to purchase tickets, visit http://www.caron.org and click on "Events." The breakfast will be held at the Reading Country Club, 5311 Perkiomen Ave. Tickets must be purchased by Wednesday, Sept. 20.