There are incredible parents out there that are taking it upon themselves to spread awareness and education about the dangers of substance abuse.
As summer comes to an end and school bells begin to ring, we hope our kids have what it takes to dodge and weave through the temptations of high school.
We all send our children off to school with high expectations and look forward to seeing them thrive.
For these parents and thousands of other families across our country, their dreams were dashed when their child was introduced to drugs and underage drinking. Often these drug connections were made at school. These young people are among the best and the brightest, and yet they could not control their substance abuse from spiraling out of control.
These parents have either suffered the devastating loss of their child from an overdose or a drug-related death or suffered years of stress during their child’s addiction. They did not make the choice to try and forget this experience and move on with their lives. They made a courageous and heartfelt decision to give back.
They reached through the stigma of addiction sharing their stories so that more people could understand the dangers of experimentation and substance abuse.
Some of these parents are Parent Ambassadors for The Partnership for Drug-Free Kids. They help support The Partnership’s outreach programs and talk with parents who are struggling with their teen’s substance abuse. Some parents have gone on to start their own organizations or websites to spread the word.
What I noticed as I wrote this article is that addiction is an equal opportunity disease. It touches families from coast to coast.
As the new school year begins, let’s celebrate these parents who are dedicated to sharing their stories so that you and your child have a better chance of avoiding the pain of substance abuse.
Reggie Whitten
Reggie is an attorney from Oklahoma. His son, Brandon, an “all American” kid and a football player became addicted to prescription drugs and alcohol. After being in and out of treatment for three years, Brandon at age 25, unfortunately, was involved in a motorcycle accident in 2002, when he was under the influence and died from his injuries. Reggie has gone on from this devastating loss of his son to start several non-profit organizations through the Whitten Newman Foundation. These include FATE, Fighting Addiction Through Education, which sponsors a program focused on high school and college athletes called Oklahoma Life of An Athlete. Reggie volunteers as a Parent Ambassador.
Watch Brandon’s story:
Judy Kirkwood
Judy is from Florida and one of her children became dependent on drugs. After many treatment programs and relapses, he has been sober for six months, working full-time and is maintaining stability.
Judy advocates for better education, compassion, and training for families of addicts, and for the destigmatization of addiction and other brain disorders commonly called mental illness. Judy is part of the Parent Advisory Board and a Parent Ambassador for The Partnership. She is a Contributing Writer and Forums Director for Third Age and is a freelance writer for various other publications. As Parent Ambassador, Judy offers phone support for parents of addicts.
You can follow Judy on twitter @judykirkwood.
Kim Manlove
Kim is a Treatment Center administrator from Indiana. His son, David enjoyed golf and baseball. He became addicted to alcohol and marijuana in high school. David was 16 and in recovery management for addiction, when he passed away from inhalant abuse in a drug-related drowning accident. David was a loving, charming and humble young man whose tragic death marked the lives of Kim and his family forever.
After the shattering loss of his youngest son, Kim has gone on to start The 24 Group, and the 24 Group Facebook Page to help spread the word about the dangers of substance abuse. He is a member of the Parent Ambassador and Parent Advisory Board for The Partnership. Kim has written a heartfelt book about the loss of his son, entitled, Odyssey. He has a Partnership Blog and a video about the family’s story entitled, Just Your Normal High School Boy. Kim has shared his family’s story on national TV.
Gretchen Burns Bergman
Gretchen is a Fashion Show Producer and Executive Director of a non-profit from California. Both of her sons have an addictive illness. Their drug of choice was heroin. Gretchen’s older son is in long-term recovery. He spent over a decade cycling through the criminal justice system for non-violent drug offenses. Her younger son still struggles with the disease of addiction. Gretchen founded A New PATH (Parents for Addiction Treatment & Healing) and is one of the three Co-Founders. She is also the lead organizer of PATH’s national Moms United to End the War on Drugs campaign. You can sign the Moms United Bill of Rights here.
Follow A New Path and MomsUnited on Facebook.
Ron Grover
Ron is the Director of Human Resources for a manufacturing company. He lives in Kansas and is the parent of a son in his early twenties. Ron’s son who was in active addiction for seven years is now in long-term recovery. In January of 2009, Ron began writing an award-winning blog, An Addict in Our Son’s Bedroom which is about living with and dealing with an addicted son. Ron reaches out to high schools and tells his family’s story. He is an advocate for drug education and awareness. He is a Parent Ambassador for The Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, a community of parents concerned about their teen’s drug use.
Shannon Rouse Ruiz
Shannon is from North Carolina and her mission in life is Prescription Drug Abuse Education and Prevention. Shannon’s daughter became addicted to Xanax. She experimented with a Fentanyl Patch, went into a coma, aspirated on her own vomit and was pronounced brain-dead. She was just 16 years old and had been active in sports, soccer, and competition cheerleading. Shannon has gone on from the tragedy of losing her daughter to start the P.E.A.C.E. Foundation (Prescription Education Abuse Counseling Empowerment) The PEACE Foundation educates the public about prescription drug abuse and prevention. Shannon volunteers as a Parent Ambassador for The Partnership.
Follow PEACE Foundation on Facebook.
Watch this Video Prescription Drug Abuse
Scott DePuy
Scott is a firefighter from the state of Washington. He is the parent of Ryan who was a funny, loving young man. He loved to play soccer, but when he was off the field, you could find Ryan skateboarding, snowboarding, wakeboarding, skimboarding, and surfing. Ryan became addicted to prescription medications, including Xanax and Vicodin. He overdosed and passed away on April 10, 2008.
Scott has gone on from the anguish of losing his son to form Ryan’s Solution Foundation. Ryan’s Solution is an organization that helps families who need an intervention but cannot afford it. They help schools fund events. They also use their resources to work on getting legislation passed for safe medicine to take back and creating low-income soccer camps that help keep at-risk youth off the streets. Scott volunteers as a Parent Ambassador for The Partnership.
Jodi Barber
Jodi is from Southern California and is a Floral Designer and an RX Advocate. Her son Jarrod became addicted to marijuana and the opiate, Opana. Jarrod, unfortunately, overdosed and passed away on January 8, 2010. Jodi has gone from this heartbreaking loss of her son to develop a documentary, Overtaken with Christine Brant. She also started a website, One Choice Can Destroy. Overtaken copies are available for $10.00. Donate a copy of “Overtaken” to your child’s middle or high school!
Watch the documentary Overtaken.
Dean Dauphinais
Dean, from Michigan, is a Senior Rights and Permissions Specialist for a major textbook publisher. His son became addicted to marijuana and eventually became addicted to heroin. Dean notes that some people do not think it is possible to become addicted to marijuana, but he has experienced this first hand. His son is in recovery, having been to rehab three times and has lived in six sober living houses. Right now Dean’s son has been clean since July 4th. Dean is a huge advocate for kicking the stigma of addiction. Dean writes about addiction and recovery on his blog My Life as 3D. He recently wrote a guest blog post for Heroes in Recovery.
You can follow Dean on twitter @deanokat.
Do you know other parents who are giving back after their children experimented or became addicted to drugs? How can you give back? Please share in the comments!
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