43
New group aims to educate community about addiction
WARREN
To an audience of 200 attentive listeners, Eric Ungaro stood and bluntly recounted the day in 2012 when he got the phone call about his brother Sean’s death.
Anna Howells spoke about her son Dennis’ battle with heroin addiction and subsequent overdose death in 2013.
Linda Spies told of her son’s drug addiction that began at age 14.
Each had his or her own story and circumstances but offered a common thread: Addiction is a disease, not a disgrace.
“We need to remove the stigma. We need to pull this problem out of the shadows,” Spies said.
That is the message that Solace of the Valley aims to deliver to the community. Ungaro is president of the organization; Spies and Howells are executive directors. Other group leaders are vice president Karrie Clark and treasurer Rocco Greco.
Solace of the Valley hosted its first event Tuesday night, which scores of local leaders, from judges to sheriffs to school district superintendents, attended. Also in attendance were many who have their own stories about addiction.
The event featured a film screening of “The Anonymous People,” a documentary about the 23 million Americans quietly living in long-term recovery from addiction.
After viewing the film, the audience joined in the conversation, asking questions about where their loved ones can get treatment, how medical professionals can do a better job preventing and treating addiction and how they personally can educate others.
Some shared their own stories; one man said he’s been in recovery for more than a year after abusing alcohol for more than 40.
“This platform has touched me,” he said.
Howells shared the ways she and her son faced addiction’s stigma.
“I would witness the demeaning remarks, the whispers when he walked into a room, the disrespectful looks. It made me so angry,” she said.
She also recalled her experience at a grief support group after her son died.
“They made me feel like [Dennis’] death was not worth the respect of other deaths,” she said. “Education is vital. ... Judgment ends when education begins.”
Solace does not yet have a clear set of initiatives, members said. The group’s goals are to educate, raise awareness and provide support to those in need.
“This is a movement about people, passion and personal relationship,” Ungaro said. “We know it’s an uphill battle, but we believe we’ve got the passion.”
The organization will start by hosting meetings at the Liberty Township administration building the last Sunday of each month at 5:30 p.m.
For more information, visit www.solaceofthevalley.org or the group’s Facebook page.