Community Events

May

2023

WLEN Interview with Families Against Narcotics Board Members Lacey Jung & Ben Trevino

Woman’s Voice: This special program is brought to you by the Lenawee Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition. Guests provide information about upcoming events, resources available, and the many ways to help reduce substance use and promote a healthy Lenawee.

Kathy Williams: This is Kathy Williams and with me on tonight’s program is Lacey Jung and Ben Trevino. And we’re going to be talking about a program that just launched. Its acronyms are FAN. But it stands for Families Against Narcotics. Lacey, tell us a little bit about what the program’s all about.

Lacey Jung: So Families Against Narcotics, or FAN, is a Michigan wide organization that provides alternative solutions to individuals who are impacted by substance use and provides resources to families who are also impacted by substance abuse. We’re going to go over a couple of our programs. One being our launch program, Hope Not Handcuffs, and we’ll tell you a little bit about what these programs can offer to our community.

Kathy Williams: So Ben, it sounds like a very intriguing program. A lot of people are looking for extra help, not only for their selves, but for their families. It, the whole community is, is impacted by drug abuse. Can you tell us about some of the programs available then?

Ben Trevino: Right. Yeah. So there are a lot of people in the community that are impacted by substance abuse, and we’re trying to give a different approach to the war on drugs that we’ve been fighting for 50 something years now, and offering alternative solutions and right now we’re probably not going to see any headway as far as changing statutes and laws at the state or federal level. So we can change things at the community level. And so, like Lacey said, our launch program is Hope Not Handcuffs, and it’s simply offering people a place to get help. Any participating law enforcement office like APD or the Lenawee County Sheriff’s Office, somebody can go to the police and they can get help, no questions asked. You’re not going to get run for a background check. They’re not going to search for warrants. They’re not going to interrogate you. They’re just going to simply connect you with somebody that can get you help that you’re looking for. Connect with resources or treatment services and the people that help facilitate those services are called angels.

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Ben Trevino: And anyone can be an angel. Anybody that has an interest in it, you don’t need any credentials, you don’t need any sort of background. If you want to help, you can help. And we will give out the phone number and email at the end if you want to reach out for that. And so we’re, we already have our first angel, actually somebody that participates in the local recovery community and she’s excited to be a part of it.

Kathy Williams: Lacey, one of the other programs then is Navigate?

Lacey Jung: Yeah. So Navigate is a program we can launch within our community that helps connect people in recovery with a coach. It can connect families to a peer who can give them resources and be there to assist them in their recovery.

Ben Trevino: Right, so there’s two different types of coaches. There’s the recovery coach, which is somebody that is in active recovery, used to be in active addiction, and has been abstaining for at least two years from their drug of choice. And then we have peer family coaches, which are people that are typically impacted by a family member that went through active addiction or is no longer with us, and they sort of have that boots on the ground firsthand experience with, you know, being a family member impacted by addiction. So that’s the two separate types of peers that we’re going to have working with us. And, and if anybody’s interested in that, once again, at the end, we’re going to give out the details on how to connect us.

Kathy Williams: So it’s all about perspective. Everyone has a different perspective of how they’ve been affected, how they’ve been impacted, and this Families Against Narcotics is trying to pull all that information together then to assist someone, or even as a coach, it would be beneficial to the person as a coach to give back.

Ben Trevino: Yeah, it really is. Everyone finds a lot of… it’s a rewarding experience to be a recovery coach. I’m personally a recovery coach and although it’s difficult and a lot of times the outcomes are pretty dismal, the wins that you do have are really impactful. And, it’s, it’s quite the experience to help somebody get out of their active addiction.

Kathy Williams: So there’s lots of ways then that our listeners can find out more about being a part of FAN, Families Against Narcotics. Lacey, what are some of the ways they can connect?

Lacey Jung: So we hold our FAN Forum meetings every fourth Tuesday of every month at 7:00 PM. The public is welcome to join our Forum. It’s held at the Adrian Public Library in the basement.

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Lacey Jung: We invite anyone who is interested in learning more information or being a part of helping these programs launch to come out and see us at the library.

Kathy Williams: And Ben, is there some other ways they can find out more information then?

Ben Trevino: Yes, so the official Lenawee FAN phone number is (517) 939-9879. You can also contact us by email. You can text that number also. You can contact us by email at Lenawee@FamiliesAgainstNarcotics.org, or you can go to the FamiliesAgainstNarcotics.org website and on the dropdown menu for locations, you can choose “Lenawee”. That’ll have all our information up there. And, yeah, like, like Lacey said, we are meeting the fourth Tuesday of every month. The very first launch is going to be this coming Tuesday, the 23rd at 7:00 PM. If you are in active addiction, if you are in active recovery, if you know somebody in recovery, if you’ve been impacted by somebody, if you are… have strong opinions about this or ideas, I think you should be there. You should really represent your perspective on the community. And that means everyone within the sound of my voice is going to be there at the library in the basement.

Kathy Williams: There you go.

Ben Trevino: Yes. Tuesday. And I’ve only told you about a few of the programs. If you want to have some input on what programs we’re launching next, apart from Hope Not Handcuffs, there is a survey on the website that you can take that we’re collecting data from the community to see what’s most important to you.

Kathy Williams: Well, Lacey and Ben, you’re wonderful ambassadors for the FAN program and we appreciate you sharing the information with our listeners.

Ben Trevino: Yeah, thank you for having me.

Lacey Jung: Thank you. Thank you for having us.

Woman’s Voice: The Lenawee Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition supported by funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration. Thank you for listening. New messages air on the second and fourth Monday each month at 6:15 PM. You can listen to this program as a podcast under the “on air audio” tab on WLEN.com and get more information at DrugPreventionLenawee.com.

May

2023

WLEN Interview with Cradle to Career Director Tim Kelly

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Kathy Williams: This is Kathy Williams and with me on tonight’s program is Tim Kelly. Tim is the chairperson for the Prevention and Education part of Lenawee Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition. And Tim, we’ve got some big news to share tonight.

Tim Kelly: Yeah, we’d like all the people out there that participated in our annual Drug Take Back Day last Saturday to give themselves a big pat on the back. It was a record haul, so to speak.

Kathy Williams: It was a haul.

Tim Kelly: We… we, took in over 700 pounds of medications. More than we’ve done ever by far actually. I mean, we had one year, three years ago, we had 600 pounds and, and I think we were at 757 pounds for this year.

Kathy Williams: Yes. It’s crazy. You know, we appreciate everyone that came out on Saturday the 22nd. It was out at the ProMedica Charles and Virginia Hickman Hospital. It’s a national event, though. We want to be sure that people understand that. That’s going to happen twice a year, April and October. And it’s run technically by the DEA, is that right?

Tim Kelly: Yeah, yeah. It is a national event, so if you… any place you could go in the country, there’s, every county has one of these events. One’s in April and the other’s in October every year. And yeah, they’re… I’m just so happy that we had so many people attend this one this year.

Kathy Williams: Well, and yeah, they thought about 417 people maybe actually came through. I know the line moved very quickly cause you know, the… to donate you don’t even have to get out of your car. And so, and they had, we ran out of goody bags. We got to make sure that doesn’t happen again.

Tim Kelly: Yeah.

Kathy Williams: But everyone was, genuinely happy to be there and happy to be doing this.

Tim Kelly: Yeah. They, it was really a great job by the, the people from ProMedica and the, the University of Toledo pharmacy students.

Kathy Williams: Yes.

Tim Kelly: Who would let people just drive right up there and they’d take the stuff out of their car for them and, and sort it out and dispose of it all. So…

Kathy Williams: And knowing that it’s a secure way also, because they had representatives from the sheriff’s department were there. You know, because some of these are narcotics that are, that are being disposed of. But it’s, it’s all about disposing of things in a better way without going down your toilets or in your landfills or could possibly contaminate our water supplies.

Time Kelly: Yeah, we get, we you know, have learned as a society that we don’t want this stuff in our water. It does show up and it, it can be affecting you know, the quality of water and, and how people’s quality of life is. But you know, the other thing is that, you know, young kids and stuff can get access to things that are probably harmful to them. And some people could take medicine that’s expired and that’s dangerous as well. So there’s a lot of reasons to get this stuff disposed of.

Kathy Williams: Yeah, we talk about that a lot leading up to the events and I’m sure we’ll remind people in October as well that, you know, you shouldn’t save something for the next time I need it.

Tim Kelly: Yeah.

Kathy Williams: Hopefully you have insurance that’ll have cover that next, that next time. But they lose potency. They… you don’t want to mix them up with other drugs that you might be on at the, at the same time. There’s too much that can happen with using more than one medication at a time. Interactions might affect how they work for you.

Tim Kelly: Right. And, and you just don’t know how it’s going to do it. So, I mean, you know, it is nice to think, “Oh, I’ll just save this till later for, for the next time I have a headache or whatever.” And you may be on a different set of medicines…

Kathy Williams: Right.

Tim Kelly: You know, between then and now and, and that could have a really adverse effect for you.

Kathy Williams: Exactly. So, you know, personally, I have a hard, I have a hard time imagining 509 pounds of tablets and capsules. I mean that “oral solids” they called it. But 509 pounds of little teeny pills. It’s just… blows your mind.

Tim Kelly: Yeah, that’s a lot of little teeny pills. Yeah. Yeah.

Kathy Williams: I know, I know. Liquids and that included… Well, let’s see. They had liquids, which, so cough, syrups, all that kind of stuff.

Tim Kelly: Yep. That type of stuff.

Kathy Williams: Medication, 228 pounds. Even topical, oh that was…

Tim Kelly: Yeah.

Kathy Williams: And including topicals. But then also inhalers, 19 pounds of inhalers. Wow

Tim Kelly: Wow. Yeah. You think of those little inhalers

Kathy Williams: Yeah.

Tim Kelly: And you got 19 pounds of them.

Kathy Williams: Well, and that was one of the things that we talked about ahead of time too, is that a lot of times inhalers and creams and topical ointments, you never get all of it out of there.

Tim Kelly: Yeah.

Kathy Williams: You know, it’s like the toothpaste bottle. You just can’t get it all out. And so those are a good example of just – put it aside, put it in a safe place and bring it to us in October.

Tim Kelly: Yep, yep. Yeah. Say “hang onto those and bring them in in October”. The other, the other number that every time is shocking to me is the, the amount of sharps, the number of syringes and stuff that’s brought back to us.

Kathy Williams: Yes.

Tim Kelly: And, although it wasn’t more this time, it was 9 38 gallon containers

Kathy Williams: Yeah.

Tim Kelly: Of sharps.

Kathy Williams: Hard to hardly, to even visualize.

Tim Kelly: Yeah, it is.

Kathy Williams: So, we’ll have to see if we can get a picture next year of the final hurrah…

Tim Kelly: Yeah.

Kathy Williams: When it, you know, they’ve got it already packed in a car or something to help that really sink in. So, you know, if you want to find more out, more about the Lenawee Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition, you can go to Drug Prevention Lenawee online. And, you know, learn lots of ways to help keep drugs off our streets and keep them out of the hands of people that shouldn’t have them.

Tim Kelly: Yep. And look for us again in October for the next one.

Kathy Williams: Exactly. Thanks, Tim.

Tim Kelly: Yep. Thank you.

Apr

2023

WLEN Interview with LCMHA / Lenawee Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition Coordinator Madeline DeMarco

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Kathy Williams: This is Kathy Williams and with me on tonight’s program is Madeline DeMarco. Madeline is the Community Outreach and Prevention Coordinator with the Lenawee Community Mental Health Authority, and she’s also the coalition coordinator for LSAPC in Lenawee Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition, which is what we are talking about tonight. Madeline, first off, thanks for taking time out.

Madeline DeMarco: Thanks for being here with me.

Kathy Williams: So we want to talk about the Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition. You’ve got several members, but you’ve got a meeting coming up and we want to invite the public people that are interested to attend the meeting.

Madeline DeMarco: Absolutely. Exciting things are really coming for the Prevention Coalition and we are inviting all of you out there listening to be a part of it. We’re almost done with a three year grant that helped us do some really incredible things to promote safe and responsible substance use in our community, and we’ve been hard at work making sure that we have everything we need to keep a lot of this great work going after that grant is over. And we know that we’re stronger together as a community. That’s one of our strengths here in Lenawee County. So we need you to help take us to the next level.

Kathy Williams: Exactly. You know, that is one thing that I think especially outsiders that move to Lenawee County are just totally amazed at a whole different way that people come together, they support each other. We’re very supportive of the different nonprofits in our agencies, in our area, and, you know, just helping anyone that’s in any kind of crisis. We, we really do a wonderful job with that. So what have you got coming up then?

Madeline DeMarco: So on May 3rd, we will be gathering with everyone who’s part of the Prevention Coalition, or who might be listening to this and interested in the work that we’re doing, from 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM in the Lenawee County Human Services Building. And this gathering is really going to celebrate everything that we’ve been able to achieve over the past three years and launch the next phase of the work. We know that our focus is really about creating a community where everyone has what we need to live healthy and fulfilled lives that aren’t defined by substance use. But we really want to know “what can we be doing as a coalition to get there? What are our biggest priorities here in our community? What do we need to know and what resources do we have together that we can, that we can share?” And that’s what we’re going to be figuring out at this meeting.

Kathy Williams: So I think that that is a very important thing to get people from all over different demographics, different lifestyles in our community because we’re always wondering how do we, how do we communicate with different people that are in different situations? I mean, we, we offer all these great things, but are we telling the right people? Are we connecting with the right people? And so this meeting then would be a way to find out some of those answers.

Madeline DeMarco: Yes, we know that substance use affects all of us here in our community, and we also know that you are all the expert in your own lives. And so for us to be able to meet your needs and priorities around substance use in the community, we need to hear from you about what those are. So whether you have a background in substance use and work in this field, or you’ve been personally affected by it, or just interested in creating a safer and healthier community for us to live in. We, we want to hear from you. We need you to do this work.

Kathy Williams: It’s not a lot of commitment. It is just help us learn more about ways that we can connect and eliminate, or at least help subside substance abuse in our area.

Madeline DeMarco: Yes. This first commitment is just an hour and a half, and from there you can be as involved or not as you want to be. So if you want to get involved in more of the projects you can, or if you just want to get on our newsletter and get, you know, an email once a month to learn the latest about substance use in our community, you can do that too. So there’s really something for everyone here.

Kathy Williams: Yeah. Sounds like a great meet. And again, it’s on May 3rd at the Lenawee County Human Service Building, which is on what?

Madeline DeMarco: Winter Street. Yep. And that’ll be at 8:30 AM.

Kathy Williams: Short commitment. Lots of information will be gathered. Thanks so much, Madeline. We appreciate you.

Madeline DeMarco: Thank you for having me. I hope to see you all there.

Woman’s Voice: The Lenawee Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition is supported by funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration. Thank you for listening. New messages air on the second and fourth Monday each month at 6:15 PM. You can listen to this program as a podcast under the “on air audio” tab on WLEN.com and get more information at DrugPreventionLenawee.com.

Mar

2023

WLEN Interview with Pathways Engagement Center Outreach Coordinator Dawn Finney

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Kathy Williams: This is Kathy Williams and with me on tonight’s program is Dawn Finney. Dawn is a Certified Peer Recovery Coach and also the Outreach Coordinator with Pathways here in Adrian. Dawn, that’s the only hats you’re wearing, right?

Dawn Finney: Yeah. For, for right now I think that’s enough.

Kathy Williams: It is enough. So tell us, we’re going to talk a little bit tonight about upcoming social events that are happening at Pathways. Can… What’s, what’s going on?

Dawn Finney: Yep. At Pathways two times a week, we do have social events. They start at 9:00 PM.

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Dawn Finney: They’re free of charge and anybody can come.

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Dawn Finney: And for example, Saturday the 11th at nine we have the event of Coffee and Canvas. We just drink coffee, we, we paint. It’s kind of self-explanatory, and just talk and kind of relax and enjoy each other’s company.

Kathy Williams: Is that something you offer every month then?

Dawn Finney: Yes, two times a week every month.

Kathy Williams: Oh, there you go.

Dawn Finney: Yeah.

Kathy Williams: So if you miss this one, you can come to the next one.

Dawn Finney: Absolutely. Yep. And you can find all of our upcoming events on the LRN website.

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Dawn Finney: So, Tuesday the 14th, we have the Guest Choice, which means, you know, if you come in and you want to play cards? We’re going to play cards. We have board games, we can paint. We could watch movies. Whatever you want to do, we can do. We just find it nice to talk to people in a safe environment.

Kathy Williams: Right. Well, and even if you want to do nothing, you can do that too.

Dawn Finney: Absolutely. Just come on in.

Kathy Williams: There you go. Well, it’s, it’s good to be around like-minded people that are going through the same maybe social or psychological struggles and have that judgment free zone.

Dawn Finney: Yeah. Yeah. There’s, you know, there’s peer recovery coaches there. And we understand. We, we know there’s not a story that you can tell us that, that one of us cannot relate to.

Kathy Williams: Exactly. Exactly. What else do you have coming up?

Dawn Finney: On Friday the 17th, we have Music Night. Sometimes we do karaoke. We have a gentleman who plays guitar.

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Dawn Finney: It’s a lot of fun actually. That’s one of our most favorite things that we have. A lot of people do come to that.

Kathy Williams: So. . If, if a person wants to find out about these different events though, they can go on which website or Facebook page?

Dawn Finney: You can go to the Pathways Facebook page.

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Dawn Finney: You can go to the LRN, which is Lenawee Recovery Network page.

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Dawn Finney: You can go to lenrecovery.org.

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Dawn Finney: And then you just scroll down to, you know, find a social event and it’s right there.

Kathy Williams: Well, and the other thing is too, is that, you know, if you’re not a night person, you have other things going on.

Dawn Finney: Yeah.

Kathy Williams: You know, they can reach out at any time and find out other things that are available at Pathways.

Dawn Finney: Absolutely. It’s on the website. You can reach out. We are open every night from 8:00 pm till 8:30 in the morning. We are kind of there when other places aren’t open.

Kathy Williams: Right.

Dawn Finney: We, we realize that, you know, not everybody has emergencies or needs to talk from nine to five.

Kathy Williams: Exactly, exactly.

Dawn Finney: So life happens and we’re there.

Kathy Williams: Yeah. Well, and originally Pathways was just on the weekends, but now it’s during the week as well.

Dawn Finney: Yes, it is. Yeah.

Kathy Williams: Yeah. So is it just for people that are going through the issues or is it for their helpers as well?

Dawn Finney: Their helpers can definitely come and get information as far as like how to help and stuff. We also do distribute Narcan.

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Dawn Finney: You know, if you, a family member, or friends, if you have fears of an overdose happening or anything, just, you know, come on in and we can give you Narcan. We can teach you how to use it, and it could definitely save a life.

Kathy Williams: Oh, for sure. I mean, you, you hear more and more about how many lives, just having it available, are saved.

Dawn Finney: Oh, absolutely, yes.

Kathy Williams: So, it, it’s not a, a stigma to be prepared. It’s…

Dawn Finney: Right, right.

Kathy Williams: You know, it’s not saying that I know somebody who’s, you know, actively using. It’s, it could be a stranger that you helped save their life.

Dawn Finney: Oh yeah. I actually know somebody who does Boy Scouts and their Boy Scouts have it in their first aid kit at 12 years old just to have it. You never know.

Kathy Williams: Exactly. Well, Dawn, I appreciate you coming in and talking with us and helping us learn a little bit more about the social events happening at Pathways.

Dawn Finney: Thank you for having me.

Dec

2022

WLEN Interview with LCMHA / Pathways Engagement Center Program Manager Kellie Niese & Community Outreach Coordinator Dawn Finney

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Kathy Williams: This is Kathy Williams, and with me on tonight’s program is Kellie Niese, she is the Pathways Program Manager, along with Dawn Finney, the Community Outreach Coordinator. Kellie, you’ve got some really great things happening at Pathways and let’s learn something about them tonight.

Kellie Niese: We do. So, we are really trying hard with the HRSA grant and with the Prevention Coalition to build some recovery supports in Lenawee County. Recovery supports for people who have experienced addiction or substance use disorder, are in recovery from substance use disorder, or are just looking for help with substance use disorder. So, one of the things we’ve done is built the Lenawee Recovery Network, which is a website where you can access resources in Lenawee County. And on there you’ll find Pathways Engagement Center in our calendar of sober events.

Kathy Williams: And what a great time of year to talk about sober events. It tends to be a little bit higher drinking right now.

Kellie Niese: It is. It’s something you don’t think about that when you’re out of addiction or you’re out of your substance use disorder – what do you do when all your friends are going to a cocktail party or having Thanksgiving with alcohol? Like what are some of your options that you can still experience community and friendship but maybe not have the enticement of substances?

Kathy Williams: There you go. So, Dawn, you have been involved with the different sober events. Tell our listeners about how they are organized, how can they get involved in them? Maybe a little bit about one that’s been fun in the past.

Dawn Finney: Well, one of our funnest events that we have is Saturday morning. Sometimes we do like this big breakfast.

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Dawn Finney: And we make breakfast and even some of the people that come, they’ll bring stuff, and basically it’s just kind of like a little get together. Just coffee and talk and, you know, just, we just have fun. We enjoy people’s companies and it’s a really nice way to start the weekend.

Kathy Williams: And that’s right at the Pathways Center?

Dawn Finney: It is.

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Dawn Finney: It’s right at Pathways. We do eight o’clock in the morning usually, you know. Well, we start at seven.

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Dawn Finney: And then we have our SMART meeting at eight and we kind of go through that.

Kathy Williams: And breakfast with it?

Dawn Finney: Absolutely. It’s a lot of fun.

Kathy Williams: What other kind of events do you have?

Dawn Finney: I am planning a New Year’s Eve get together.

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Dawn Finney: Starting at nine o’clock on New Year’s Eve and I would love if people would come and join me. We are gonna ring in the New Year’s Eve clean, sober, and serene, and just have a good time together. Fellowship, we’re gonna have fun. And you know, when I was in active addiction, I, I was alone. And, you know, you don’t have to be alone anymore. Recovery is not lonely.

Kathy Williams: So the Pathway Center, they can drop in. What are the normal hours that they can drop in?

Kellie Niese: So Pathways is open every night, Monday through Sunday, 8:00 PM to 8:00 AM

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Kellie Niese: You don’t need to make an appointment. If you wanna attend a sober event, you can just drop in, but you can drop in anytime. There is a sober events calendar though, on the LRN – Lenawee Recovery Network – website. And, we have things from Popcorn Night, or Movie Night, not Popcorn Night, but movie night with popcorn, Spa Night, Meditation. We kind of, explore the rainbow of different things that you can do to take care of yourself and nurture your recovery.

Kathy Williams: That sounds like great things and Dawn, I’m sure that you’ll have a good, a good turnout for New Year’s. What a great idea.

Dawn Finney: I’m really excited about it and excited to meet new people.

Kathy Williams: There you go. All right, ladies, well, thank you again for being with us and telling us about some of the different sober events going on at Pathways.

Kellie Niese: As always, we love it when you have us by to talk about some of the new and exciting things we’re doing in our community.