In Warren, Walk Against Heroin draws 200

By JORDAN COHEN

news@vindy.com

WARREN

Stephanie Battison stood in the sunshine at the Warren Community Amphitheatre on Sunday looking confident and happy – a far cry from her former life as a heroin addict and frequent prisoner in the Trumbull County jail.

“I had been in and out of the system for years and had a number of arrests, all of them drug-related,” she recalled. “There was nothing I wouldn’t do.”

Battison, 37, was among more than 200 who turned out for the Fourth Annual Warren Walk Against Heroin, hosted by New Day Recovery, an operator of withdrawal-management and residential-treatment centers. Like Battison, many are recovering addicts willing to tell their stories, each ending with a positive message of hope and recovery.

“I’m an open book,” Battison said as she detailed her spiral into addiction, which began with alcohol and marijuana at age 12, heroin by age 20 and what she saw as a life of hopelessness. 

“Addicts don’t know any way out,” she said, but then she found one even though she didn’t know it at the time.

While in jail, she was referred to the Edna House for Women in Cleveland. Her motive for going there had nothing to do with recovery.

“I originally went there to get out of jail, but the women were so amazing to me and helped me change my mind about sobriety,” she said. “They just love you when you don’t love yourself.”

Since then, Battison said she has been “clean and sober” nearly four years, regularly attends recovery meetings and has regained custody of her 9-year old daughter who accompanied her Sunday. The former Warren resident now resides in Cleveland, where she is employed full time and has “my own home and a car.

“For the first time in my life, I am completely legal,” she said. “It feels like freedom and peace.”

Tina Cvetkovich of Youngstown, another recovering addict with a misdemeanor drug-related arrest record, now holds a very public position: member of the Youngstown Board of Education. She said she has been in recovery for 15 years after “bottoming out” with heroin addiction in 2004. Her recovery has consisted of outpatient treatments and 12-step programs.

She earned a degree in social work from Youngstown State University in 2012.

“It has helped me be a better member of society,” said Cvetkovich, 50, while looking at the turnout with whom she feels a kinship.

“These are my family, too,” she said.

Grant Kirkwood, 31, of Liberty is New Day Recovery residential treatment manager. He has the insight of a former addict because he is one.

“I’ve been clean for five years, but I remind myself consistently that I can’t have a beer and can’t be like normal non-addicts,” he said.

Throughout the Warren amphitheater grounds, a number of drug treatment agencies and organizations set up tents to offer information. Lisa Baglieri of Austintown, a chemical dependency counselor, volunteered to help despite a broken foot that forced her to hobble on crutches in the midday heat.

“People feel helpless, and I want to let them know they’re more than their addiction,” Baglieri said.

On the amphitheater stage stood a large blackboard with “Why We Walk” in bold letters at its top. Attendees did not hesitate to write personal notes and thoughts on the board, many of them listing the names of those whose addiction cost them their lives.

Charitey Riggs of Columbiana wrote in memory of her mother who died of a drug overdose on Valentine’s Day in 2009.

Like her mother, Riggs, now 25, has addiction issues and is fighting to overcome them.

“I’ve been in recovery for three years,” she said as she held the hand of her 10-year old daughter.

Another message on the blackboard may well have summed up the reason that brought recovering addicts, families and supporters to Sunday’s event:

“I walk because I believe change is possible,” it read.