Million with Morgan: Why Morgan Wade Is Walking One Million Steps for NACoA

Singer-songwriter Morgan Wade is attempting to walk one million steps during September for NACoA and children impacted by family addiction.

One million steps in 30 days is an enormous personal goal. Morgan’s commitment is also the beginning of a larger invitation. Throughout September, NACoA is asking people across all 50 states to help reach 19 million collective steps, representing the nearly 19 million children in the United States who live with a parent or primary caregiver with a substance use disorder.

The challenge is called Million with Morgan, and every submitted step becomes part of NACoA’s Voices of the Unheard campaign.

Why 19 million steps?

A 2025 study published in JAMA Pediatrics estimated that nearly one in four U.S. children lived with a parent or primary caregiver who had a substance use disorder in 2023. That equals almost 19 million children. The National Institutes of Health reported that 7.6 million of those children lived with a parent whose disorder was moderate or severe. More than 6 million lived with a parent who also had a mental health condition.

The research helps describe the scale. The children represented by the number are living individual lives.

One may be waiting for a ride that does not arrive. Another may be doing well in school while carrying a worry no one sees. A teenager may understand that a parent is sick and still feel angry about the choices and disruptions surrounding that illness. An adult may recognize their childhood in the research for the first time.

NACoA’s campaign uses one step for each child as an act of recognition. Morgan’s million steps sit inside the 19 million community goal. Neither number is a cap. Every step beyond the goal continues to show that people are willing to see these children and support the adults who care for them.

Why Morgan Wade?

Morgan has built a career through direct storytelling. Her music gives complicated experiences room to exist without forcing them into a polished conclusion. That willingness to speak honestly makes her partnership with Voices of the Unheard meaningful.

[INSERT ONE APPROVED MORGAN INTERVIEW QUOTE ABOUT RECOVERY, CHILDHOOD ADVERSITY, RESILIENCE, OR UNHEARD VOICES.]

In her NACoA interview, Morgan discusses experiences connected to recovery, resilience, and the children whose stories may remain unheard. The final interview will be available through NACoA’s YouTube channel.

[EMBED FINAL APPROVED NACoA YOUTUBE INTERVIEW HERE AND ADD VIDEOOBJECT SCHEMA.]

Morgan is also an athlete who has publicly incorporated demanding physical goals into her life. Million with Morgan turns that discipline into a month-long action people can join from wherever they are. Participants do not need to match her pace or complete a dramatic distance. Steps from work, school drop-off, a treadmill, a concert venue, a neighborhood, or a planned group walk can be added to the collective total.

Readers can learn more about Morgan’s music and current tour through her official website. Campaign promotion should use only photographs, video, and quotations approved by Morgan’s team and NACoA.

How to join Million with Morgan

Million with Morgan runs from September 1 through September 30, 2026.

Join through the Voices of the Unheard campaign hub, connect your activity through the designated step challenge, and submit your total as directed. The campaign page will track Morgan’s progress and the community’s movement toward 19 million steps.

You can participate alone or invite other people. A family can count a weekend walk. A recovery program can organize a group. A school staff team, treatment center, workplace, gym, running club, faith community, or group of friends can choose a day and submit its steps.

Sharing the campaign gives the walk additional reach. Use #VoicesOfTheUnheard, tag NACoA, and explain why you are walking if you want to. You can also participate without sharing a personal story. No one owes the public details about their childhood, family, or recovery.

Donations made during the campaign support NACoA’s work equipping caring adults with education, programs, and practical resources for children affected by familial substance use. The September fundraising goal is $150,000.

Morgan is taking on one million steps. The rest of us can help carry the number from one million to 19 million, one ordinary walk at a time.

Join Million with Morgan through Voices of the Unheard.

Sources and links: NIH research summary; McCabe et al., PubMed; Morgan Wade official website; Voices of the Unheard.