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Apothic Tattoo in downtown Morristown and English Mountain Recovery have partnered to honor the work of sobriety by offering free tattoos this Sunday from 12 to 4 p.m. for anyone looking for a permanent reminder of their journey.

Taking place at the Apothic studio at 219 W. Main Street, the tattoos offered will be numerical and are supposed to represent sobriety milestones such as total days sober or meaningful dates tied to recovery.

Advance registration is required due to limited spots. Call Rebekah at 865-801-0165 to reserve a time.

Nathan Hill, owner/operator of Apothic Tattoo, said the event is a way for his shop to contribute using the skills they have.

“If there’s anything we can do to help out any sort of typically marginalized community, we try to do it,” Hill said. “I’ve been personally affected — I’ve lost friends to addiction — so it’s very near and dear to me.”

Christina Mahan, a psychiatric nurse practitioner with English Mountain Recovery, said the idea grew out of a social media trend encouraging people in recovery to “pay it forward” through symbolic tattoos.

“It’s a way to make that commitment more permanent and to celebrate sobriety,” Mahan said. “It’s also about raising awareness and helping people get connected to resources.”

English Mountain Recovery provides detox and residential treatment for substance use and co-occurring mental health disorders. Its detox facility is located in Sevierville, with a residential campus near the Cocke County border.

Mahan said several support organizations will be on site to offer their help and encouragement, including the Hamblen County Substance Abuse Coalition which will have information about the use of naloxone, also known as Narcan.

Hill said he hopes many people will be able to participate and celebrate their time in sobriety, even if they’ve relapsed. He said that every sober day is important.

“It might be 10 days or 1,000 days,” he said. “It’s something they can look at and say, ‘I did that many, I can keep going.’”