Recovery

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.

Mar

2023

WLEN Interview with LCMHA / Pathways Engagement Center Program Manager Kellie Niese

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Kathy Williams: This is Kathy Williams and with me tonight is Kellie Niese and we’re going to be talking to you about the Lenawee Recovery Network. Kellie, first off, thanks for joining me and helping our listeners learn a little bit more about the Lenawee Recovery Network.

Kellie Niese: Well, thank you. I always like stopping by and seeing you.

Kathy Williams: It’s nice to see you too. So the Lenawee Recovery Network hasn’t been around for very long now?

Kellie Niese: No. So, the Lenawee Recovery Network is a website that we developed through a community grant that we have and we launched it last year on August 31st, National Overdose Awareness Day at the day of HOPE.

Kathy Williams: Oh yeah. In the… where that event is coming up again this year!

Kellie Niese: It is!

Kathy William: It’s kind of going to be a permanent thing. The last, what is it? The last day of October?

Kellie Niese: The last day of August.

Kathy Williams: Of August! Oh, I got us way late. Okay. Last day in August. So we’ll be talking more about that later this summer.

Kellie Niese: Yes.

Kathy Williams: Kellie, you’re, you’re tweaking it and making sure that things are up to date. Let our listeners know what kind of things can they find when they go to that site?

Kellie Niese: Right. Well, so what I’ve found is when I’m out in the community trying to get substance use disorder or addiction resources into the hands of people, that I have a lot of papers and people don’t necessarily know what to do with all those papers. And so we wanted to create something electronic.

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Kellie Niese: That was really specific to Lenawee County. So the Lenawee Recovery Network kind of spawned out of that. And it has exactly that: local resources to help with housing, transportation, addiction, sober activities, and treatment options here in Lenawee County.

Kathy Williams: Well, and you were talking with me off air about, so you can go to the site and you can say, I need food.

Kellie Niese: Right. Right.

Kathy Williams: And it, and there’s a dropdown menu then for food, or?

Kellie Niese: It is. We, we really took inspiration from people that are in recovery from substance use disorder and asked what they were looking for in that moment of crisis.

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Kellie Niese: Because it does, you know, you’re not in crisis on an island by yourself.

Kathy Williams: No.

Kellie Niese: And there isn’t just one problem usually when you’re, when you’re in substance use disorder or addiction. And so a lot of times people who are in crisis, they don’t have housing, they can’t afford transportation or lost their transportation. And so yes, that we, we incorporated all of that into the website. So if you’re looking for a food pantry, food pantries are there. Lenawee Transportation Authority is on there, and how to utilize that harm reduction information if you’re not familiar with that. Like how can someone get Narcan to reverse an opiate overdose? Syringe exchange, which isn’t available here in Lenawee County, but we give you instructions on how you can reach those services nearby.

Kathy Williams: Okay. Okay.

Kellie Niese: And so things to just make sure that someone that loves someone struggling with addiction or struggling with addiction themselves can easily in one space, find all of these resources.

Kathy Williams: Well, that’s the hard thing because when you’re in the moment, your, your mind is scattered anyway.

Kellie Niese: Right.

Kathy Williams: So, it, it makes a lot of sense to me that it is available for those helping others through crisis.

Kellie Niese: Right. Right. And so, you know, I, I’m a nurse by trade.

Kathy Williams: Right.

Kellie Niese: And so I always think when I had patients coming to me, I would love to have one thing that I could hand them that would, you know, comprehensively give them everything they needed in, you know…

Kathy Williams: One quick shot.

Kellie Niese: Yeah. And so that’s really what I had in mind for that.

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Kellie Niese: And so over this next month, you’ll probably see some of these posters spring up that highlight Lenawee Recovery Network and it will have a flow code on it, and it will tell a little bit about the site and people, you know, maybe doing their laundry at a laundromat in a moment of, of clarity might want to scan that and get connected to resources. Doctor’s offices will have those resources. Therapists will have those resources.

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Kellie Niese: Yeah, we’re really trying to disperse it in into the community, so it’s easily available. And if anyone’s like me, I’m last minute for anything. So in the moment, I might search “Lenawee Recovery Network”.

Kathy Williams: Right.

Kellie Niese: And get the resource that way, or recovery services. So we really are trying to reach people where they’re at.

Kathy Williams: And there is information then also on the site as far as if a person wants a face-to-face connection?

Kellie Niese: Right.

Kathy Williams: Those are on there as well?

Kellie Niese: Yeah. One of the really cool things about the site is it has… So Pathways Engagement Center is a part of Lenawee Community Mental Health and it’s right downtown. And it has peers in recovery from addiction there and so on LRN, there’s a whole page and profile of all the peers that work at Pathways, and it tells a little bit about their journey to recovery.

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Kellie Niese: And how you can connect immediately to them.

Kathy Williams: Oh, that’s wonderful because you do get the best support really, from someone who’s already walked down that road.

Kellie Niese: Right.

Kathy Williams: They, I mean, they know how hard it is for you. They really can connect with you better.

Kellie Niese: Yeah. And it, and it really is for anyone affected or impacted by addiction. So, for instance, there’s a page on there to remember someone that you may have lost to addiction.

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Kellie Niese: You’ll see me on there. My sister, I highlighted a memorial for her. And you know, there’s some YouTube programming on there. There’s WLEN interviews on there that kind of highlight some of the things we’ve discussed over the year. And then there is direct ways to get help through CMH if someone needs help immediately.

Kathy Williams: There you go. Well, it’s all about helping everyone that we can and we know that the road recovery is a tough one.

Kellie Niese: It is.

Kathy Williams: So, the more we can help with that.

Kellie Niese: That’s right.

Kathy Williams: Thanks so much, Kellie. Appreciate all the information.

Kellie Niese: I always appreciate you having me.

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.

Feb

2023

WLEN Interview with Families Against Narcotics Public Relations & Social Media Coordinator Ben Trevino

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Kathy Williams: This is Kathy Williams and with me on tonight’s program is Ben Trevino, and Ben is the Public Relations and Social Media Coordinator for a new group called FAN, F A N are the initials. Ben, thanks for joining us. We’re anxious to learn some more about the Families Against Narcotics group.

Ben Trevino: Yeah, Kathy, thanks for having me.

Kathy Williams: So, tell us, you know, and the group is in its infancy getting set up. Tell us what the goals and the future issues that you’re gonna be dealing with. How, how does this affect our community?

Ben Trevino: So, FAN is a nationwide network of different chapters in individual communities, and every chapter has its own stated mission and goals. But ours would be to fill in the gaps in some of the social services and figure out what exactly families need as a place to turn to first…

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Ben Trevino: When they’re looking for help with people dealing with, drug addiction mainly, alcoholism too. And just having that resource and being able to connect them with the appropriate people for treatment.

Kathy Williams: So, would they still start at LCMHA at the Lenawee Community Mental Health Authority, to get connected to FAN, or how’s that work?

Ben Trevino: Yeah, so they, they can start there and we might refer them there, but where they would really start is calling the FAN phone number, which we don’t have yet.

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Ben Trevino: We will soon, but we’ll, here or going to the fan website.

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Ben Trevino: And having that is just like, almost like calling what, what do they call it? 211.

Kathy Williams: Like 211.

Ben Trevino: Okay. So it’ll be like a 211 for drug addiction.

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Ben Trevino: So they can just turn to us and we can guide them through this landscape, which can be kind of tricky at first.

Kathy Williams: Yes. Well, there is a lot of, or there are a lot of resources in our area, but like with 211, it’s a good starting spot. So, it kind of gives you a big cafeteria choices of where do I need to go? What do I need to do?

Ben Trevino: Right.

Kathy Williams: So, FAN would be similar though for people with substance abuse issues?

Ben Trevino: Right. And then we’ll also have different programs which will implement harm reduction strategies.

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Ben Trevino: So, things have been shaping up differently, I guess over the past 50 years. We kind of fought a war on drugs and drugs won that war. So, we can congratulate them now.

Kathy Williams: Yeah.

Ben Trevino: You know, the, the idea was to lock everyone up and you know, it, it was so bad that even when they are locked up in prison, they’re still doing drugs. Like everything is just a wash and, and drugs. So, instead of locking people up, we’re looking for different alternatives that we can give, that we can reduce the harm that addicts are doing to themselves and to the broader society.

Kathy Williams: Right.

Ben Trevino: While driving engagement. So, seeing them more often as opposed to just when they come to the emergency room.

Kathy Williams: Right.

Ben Trevino: And being able to use those program to get them into treatment, just like a, a funnel them into the places where we need them. As opposed to waiting for them to get locked up or to, you know, show up to the emergency room with a, with a, you know, potential overdose or some other life-threatening thing.

Kathy Williams: Right. Or a court order for to participate in different things.

Ben Trevino: Right.

Kathy Williams: So you’ll, you’ll be able to better connect and walk beside them then to kind of help them navigate how to not relapse. And will they also help them to navigate how to go through detox and that kind of thing? Or where’s that line gonna be?

Ben Trevino: Right. So that will be more with the providers.

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Ben Trevino: The treatment providers. And we have a network, not locally, but maybe that’s something in the future, I don’t know.

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Ben Trevino: But you know, sort of in our adjacent counties, Washtenaw and Monroe, that we can refer people to. And then once they’re out of treatment, out of that residential setting…

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Ben Trevino: Then they’re back with us and we can refer them to the safe spaces like Pathways Engagement Center.

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Ben Trevino: Or CMH or InterConnections. These places where we know that they can go for support and just about any time that they need to.

Kathy Williams: Well, I’m the board president for Neighbors of Hope, and we have our men’s center, which should be opened up again soon. But we also have a women’s and children’s homeless center. And we take in homeless people who have struggled with addiction after they’ve been through their detox to give them that extra help that they need. So, this will be a great resource for, for groups like that as well.

Ben Trevino: Right. And part of that broader mission is making that allyship with all the different community partners. And right now, now that we’ve formed the Board as the first step, we have people from all different professions, you know, the police, the fire, the EMS, the legal, judicial system, the medical professionals, people in social services, former addicts, people with families of former addicts and all, everything, like it’s a broad spectrum of people from all different areas. And we’re looking to partner with just about anyone that can help us serve these broader goals.

Kathy Williams: Yeah. Yeah. And I think that that’s a great idea too, because then you’re, you’re not out to duplicate services. You’re out to help streamline the services to the people that actually need them at the time they need them.

Ben Trevino: Forming connections. Yeah. Yeah. And, and filling in the gaps.

Kathy Williams: Exactly. Well, Ben, you know, in the process you’re putting up a website and I’m sure you’ll have a Facebook and a phone number and all that stuff. But in the meantime, for our listeners to be able to send some information to you, how can they do that?

Ben Trevino: So yeah, we are in the process of setting up a Facebook group, a website on the national FAN site, and probably some other social media presences. But in the, in the meantime, if people want more information or just to offer some feedback about what they think would be pertinent to our mission and goals, they can contact me. And my email address is BTrevino, so that’s the letter B, and then T R E V I N O at L C M H A.org. That stands for Lenawee Community Mental Health Authority.

Kathy Williams: Well, Ben, I look forward to having you back on, you know, at some future date to get an update of how things have transpired and how effective the group is working within our community.

Ben Trevino: Yeah, I’d love to come back when we’re closer to launch.

Kathy Williams: Thank you. Thanks so much, Ben.

Jan

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 tonight is Madeline DeMarco. And Madeline is the Community Outreach and Prevention Coordinator at Lenawee Community Mental Health Authority.

Madeline DeMarco: Alright!

Kathy Williams: Yay. We got it. We got it. So, Madeline, you know, you’re so involved in the Lenawee Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition, LSAPC, and so, you know, we want to talk a little bit tonight about signs of overdose. You know, it’s unfortunately prevalent in our community that we’re seeing more people struggling with drugs and with overdose situations, and yet a lot of us might not know what to even look for. If somebody’s struggling, we might not know. So give us, give us some ideas of some things that we can look for.

Madeline DeMarco: We always like to use the acronym “BLUE” when we’re talking about signs of overdose that we’re looking for in our friends and neighbors and family members. And so BLUE stands for… the first letter “B” is for breathing, and so we’re looking for irregular or shallow breathing. Someone might not be breathing at all, or you might hear snoring or gurgling sounds coming from them.

Madeline DeMarco: The next letter “L” stands for lips, and we’re looking at the color of our lips and fingernails. So if someone is light-skinned, they might have a blue or purpleish tint. If they’re darker skinned, it might look a little bit gray on their fingernails or lips. And then “U” stands for unresponsive. And so that means if you give someone a sternal rub or you shake them or shout their name and they’re not responding, that’s that unresponsive piece.

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Madeline DeMarco: And then the last. E stands for eyes and we’re looking for small pinpoint pupils. And all of these things add up to be what could be signs of an opioid overdose.

Kathy Williams: And that’s scary when you come across that. I, I would imagine, you know, cause you, like you said, you really don’t know what could be going on. Is it drugs? Is that a heart problem? Are they having a, a seizure? Are they, you know, going into some kind of diabetic problem? And so, you know, the first thing to do is probably call 911.

Madeline DeMarco: Absolutely. The first thing you always want to do anytime you come across the situation when someone might be unconscious or not breathing, is call 911. Get professional help there as soon as you can. The next thing that you can do is we recommend that everybody have access to Narcan. Narcan or Naloxone, you might hear it known as, is an amazing life-saving medication because it can reverse an opioid overdose. So, if someone is overdosed and they’re unconscious, you administer Narcan. It often comes in like a nasal spray or an injectable, like an EpiPen. And it’s literally like waking the dead. Where it will revive that person and get them conscious, get them breathing again, so that they can be more stable until help arrives. The other great thing about Narcan is that there are really no negative side effects. So if someone is just unconscious for another reason or not experiencing an opioid overdose, it’s not going to hurt them, it’s not going to harm them. So it’s safe to use in any situation.

Kathy Williams: That was going be the question I was going to ask is, you know what, if you give it to someone that’s not going through that? They are also making Narcan more available. Now I know, I believe all the law enforcement cars carry it. Of course you have different drop-in centers that have it, and, and it’s available to get at different kinds of events or informational things. Where can a person find out more information about maybe getting some Narcan?

Madeline DeMarco: We have a list of places you can get Narcan on the Prevention Coalition website.

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Madeline DeMarco: That’s DrugPreventionLenawee.com. But it’s really available, like you said, in a lot of different places in our community. So groups like Community Mental Health or Pathways Recovery Engagement Center will do free Narcan trainings. So, they’ll teach you how to use Narcan for free and you’ll get your own kit that you can keep.

Kathy Willims: Okay.

Madeline DeMarco: There are also community events. Like Pathways has folks that go to First Fridays here in downtown Adrian, where you can get trained and get Narcan, and also second Fridays, which are held at the Adrian District Library during the wintertime on the second Friday of the month, where you can get trained. You can also access Narcan for free online. There’s a website called NextDistro. “Distro” like “distribution”. And you can go on and watch a quick video and put in your address and it’ll actually mail Narcan right to your door. So there’s a lot of free ways to get it in our community.

Kathy Williams: Yeah, that’s, you know, I mean, it’s one of those things where you hope you never need it, but might as well have it. Is there expiration dates on those or…?

Madeline DeMarco: Narcan is good for about two years.

Kathy Williams: Okay.

Madeline DeMarco: And then we recommend that people replace it, store it in a cool place, that sort of thing. But that’s really quite a while, and I recommend that everybody has access to it. I know I like to give it to all of my friends, family members because you never know, even if someone has a surgery, you know, where they might be on some pain medication or something, it’s, it can be easy to, to accidentally overdose on something. And so it’s like having, you know, a defibrillator or a Band-Aid or something like that around, it’s always better to be safe than sorry.

Kathy Williams: Well that’s great. Well, I sure learned a lot and I know, I’m sure our listeners do too. We really appreciate your helping to educate us a little bit better on signs of overdose and on the Narcan system. Thanks, Madeline.

Madeline DeMarco: Thank you.