The Lorain County Opioid Action Team and the Mental Health Addiction and Recovery Services observed International Overdose Awareness Day Memorial at the main campus of Lorain County Community College Friday evening. Rev. Cheryl Lindsay of the First Congregational Church and a member of the LINC Board of Directors provided the opening invocation. She concluded her prayer with 118 seconds of silence for the 118 Lorain County deaths in 2023 attributed to drug overdoses. That's why we have the purple flags in front of hte town Hall and on the front lawn of NN Inc. on W. Herrick Ave.
“For My Neighbor”
by Cheryl Lindsay | published on Aug 29, 2024
Growing up, I had a clear boundary when playing outside on my street. I could go no further than the corner on one end and no further than my friend’s house on the other. She had an older brother who had enough years on us that he could enforce the boundary while parents stayed comfortably inside. As I approached my teen years, I spent less time with her and less time outside. That did not lessen the impact when one day I heard the stunning news that her brother had died … from a drug overdose.
He was the first young person and the first person that I knew personally to die as a result of drug misuse. Like other, more high profile cases such as Len Bias, his death came suddenly rather than through the slow decline that was associated with addiction at the time. He was a teenager with a kind heart, great sense of humor, and a village of people who loved him. For me, he remains the face of overdose prevention. When I co-established a drug awareness group in high school, it was in his honor.
Last year, I accepted an invitation to serve on the board of a local non-profit dedicated to “serving people with addiction along with offering drug education, drug awareness and harm reduction resources.” The board members represent social service agencies, fire and emergency service departments, law enforcement, high school students, and a pastor. I replaced a pastor who was personally committed to the work but received pushback from the congregation they served—a reminder that the work of destigmatizing continues. Regrettably, the church which sings boldly of God’s grace too often sets boundaries for it rather than following Jesus’ example of routine compassion.
The word compassion means “to suffer with.” The organization I joined is called LINC (Local Initiative to Network Compassion). That sounds like a description for what the church could be, should be, and thankfully often is.
Back in the 1980s, when my friend’s brother overdosed, the collective response was criminalization and shame. “Just Say No” was the name given to a national campaign that clearly telegraphed to individuals and families struggling with addiction that they were essentially on their own. The “War on Drugs” contributed to mass incarceration while pretending that ridding impacted communities of drug dealers was the goal rather than implementing a new iteration of Jim Crow. That war ravaged communities like the one I grew up in. A few years ago, I drove down my old street. That boundary I had, from the corner to my friend’s home, looks much like the wonderful working class neighborhood in which I grew up. But, when I traveled further, I found unkempt lawns, boarded up homes, and evidence of abandonment.
Today, as a society, we have made strides in nurturing compassion as a response to drug misuse and overdose prevention. Yet, the impact of “othering” continues to impede those efforts. Compassion that requires the recipient to come from your neighborhood, look like you, worship in your same faith tradition, or love like you love, fails to emulate the way of Jesus who called us to love our neighbor, enemy, and stranger as ourselves.
My childhood neighbor would be in his late 50s had he lived. And I still do this work in his honor.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rev. Dr. Cheryl A. Lindsay is the Minister for Worship and Theology for the United Church of Christ.
LINC Newsletter-Oct 2024
LINC WELCOMES NEW COMMUNITY COORDINATOR
LINC Welcomes the latest addition to our team, Debbie Ross LISW LICDC, CFRC, as the new Community Coordinator. Debbie has been in the field treating and counseling people who struggle with substance use disorders for 10 years now. Debbie also works as a mental health specialist in a private practice setting.
We are excited about the perspective and knowledge she brings to the team and look forward to building on and expanding the outreach and awareness in our communities. We are committed to reducing the stigma of addiction and saving as many lives as we can by offering education, resources, and harm reduction practices to all those who are struggling. We are grateful for those who partner with us and join in the fight. Debbie will be out in the community soon, so don’t be surprised if she comes knocking on your door!
New Naloxbox Locations
The Village of Wellington recently installed three new Naloxboxes. Each transparent box contains a Naloxone kit ( Narcan) with instructions on how to use it. Locations are as follows:
Wellington Town Hall in the entryway before you enter the gymnasium.
Wellington Community Park on the east side of the main concession stand between the baseball fields
Wellington Community Park on the east end of the maintenance building.
New Care Behavioral Health at Binder Building on Dickson St.
Penfield Township Hall
Penfield Recreation Park
The kits are in place for emergency use, but if you take one for your first aid kit at home, the kit will simply be replaced when the box is restocked. Naloxone kits are also available from LINC, Herrick Memorial Library, or the Lorain County Community College Wellington Center. If you need information about Narcan, email us at lincofwellington@gmail.com
Points to remember
Naloxone is a medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose. It attaches to opioid receptors and reverses and blocks the effects of other opioids.
Naloxone is a safe medicine. It only reverses overdoses in people with opioids in their systems.
There are two FDA-approved formulations of naloxone: injectable and prepackaged nasal spray.
Police officers, emergency medical technicians, and first responders are trained on how to give naloxone.
In some states, friends and family members can be trained on how to give naloxone.
Naloxone only works in the body for 30 to 90 minutes. It is possible for a person to still experience the effects of an overdose after naloxone wears off or need multiple doses if a potent opioid is in a person’s system.
In some areas, you can get naloxone from pharmacies with or without a personal prescription from community-based distribution programs, or local health departments. The cost varies depending on where and how you get it as well as what type you get.
NIDA. 2022, January 11. Naloxone DrugFacts. Retrieved from https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugfacts/naloxone on 2024, October 15
UPCOMING EVENTS: Prescription Drug Take-Back Day
LINC will be joining Wellington Police Department on October 26, 2024, between the hours of 10am to 2pm, for the next Prescription Drug Take Back Day. LINC will be offering education on substance abuse, while offering resources for treatment locations, education on addiction, FREE life saving tools, and medication management bags for anyone who would like them.
This event allows community individuals to bring any old or unused prescription medications to the police station to be disposed of properly. This event aims to provide a safe, convenient and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about potential abuse of medication.
Search for other take back locations near you, go to: www.dea.gov/takeback
LINC Newsletter-APRIL 2024
RX Medication Safety
THRIVE! of Southern Lorain County recently teamed with LINC on a video to promote Medication Safety. At the National Take Back Prescription Drug Day at the Wellington Police Station on April 28, LINC gave away eight locking storage bags and 13 medication disposal pouches. These are available for free at the Wellington Police Station, Herrick Memorial Library and LCCC, Wellington Center.
Click here to view the video with LINC Community Coordinator Terry Mazzone and Wellington Police Chief Jim McPike, who is a member of the LINC Board of Directors.
Board receives governance training
The LINC Board of Directors received governance training in May at Lorain County Community College’s Wellington Center. Facilitating the 90-minute presentation was Brian Frederick of Brian Frederick & Associates. People in Lorain County will remember Frederick as the President and CEO of the Community Foundation of Lorain County, a position he held nearly 20 years before retiring in 2017.
LINC Chairperson Dr. Robert Stauffer said “As a relatively new board, it was important to understand our role as board members and how we can effectively work as a board to meet our goals and mission in delivering vital services to our community. This training gives us a strategic map toward achieving our goals.”
Frederick said it is important for board members to be present, prepared, generous, and inquisitive. To operate effectively and efficiently as a board, members should not be silent. He listed 10 essential board responsibilities.
Determine mission and purpose
Select the chief executive
Support and evaluate the chief executive
Ensure effective planning
Monitor and strengthen program and service
Ensure adequate financial resources
Protect assets and provide proper financial oversight
Build a competent board
Ensure legal and ethical integrity
Enhance the organization’s public standing
Black River School Board member named to LINC
Black River Board of Education member Robin Blake was officially named to the LINC Board of Directors at its May meeting. The LINC board wanted representation from the Black River Schools since its district includes Huntington Township and LINC’s service area includes Huntington as well.
Blake was elected to the Black River school board in November 2023. A retired elementary school teacher in Brevard County (1987-2018), she is a volunteer GED math tutor at the Medina County Jail and facilitates a parenting and healthy relationships class at the jail. She was the Prism Project’s Outstanding Math Teacher in 2008 and in 2015 she was named a Brevard County Hall of Fame Exemplary Math Teacher.
As a LINC board member, she will help develop the Youth Advisory Board.
Wellington Village to install Naloxboxes at Town Hall, Recreation Park
Wellington Village Council adopted a resolution May 20 to install Naloxboxes at the Town Hall gymnasium and the Recreation Park.
Each Naloxbox will contain a Naloxone (Narcan) kit, CPR tools including a face shield and gloves, and directions on how to use the nasal spray. The kits are being placed at the Town Hall and Wellington Community Park in case of an emergency.
The kits are free. If they are removed from the case, they will simply be replaced. The program is administered through the Lorain County Public Health District.
Penfield Township has Naloxbox kits installed at their Recreation Park and Township Hall (photo). If township trustees would like a Naloxbox placed at their facilities, email lincofwellington@gmail.com.
According to an Ohio Department of Health, since 2015 Naloxone has been to reverse 50,000 overdoses in Ohio alone.