(April 7, 2016) For years, Jackie Ball and Heidi McNeeley have shared the terrible bond of having a family member who struggles with heroin addiction.
Today, Thursday, April 7, they will host the first meeting of a new group, Worcester County Warriors Against Opiate Addiction, at the Ocean Pines Library at 6:30 p.m., designed to help people in similar situations.
“Because I had gone on this journey of addiction, what I came away with was knowing how horrendous this was for somebody that loves somebody who is addicted – how terrifying and how scary that is,” McNeeley said. “I felt like there is this need to support parents, siblings, friends, and people that love people that are addicted, because you are so alone.
“More and more information is coming out and more and more resources are coming out, but it continues to be a really tough journey to navigate – to know what to do, who to call, and what you can do for yourself. Frankly, it almost kills you,” McNeeley added.
For Ball, that tough journey has lasted eight years, watching her son go in and out of treatment facilities, and, eventually, to jail.
“It can just drag you [through it]. You can’t even imagine how painful it is,” she said.
Although her son has since been transferred outside of the county, Ball remembers seeing “at least 12 people from his class in high school” serving alongside him for similar reasons when he was interned at the Worcester County jail last year.
“[Heroin] is becoming so accessible. It’s so cheap. I think that we really need to do more to educate, and the schools have been very reluctant,” she said. “They really didn’t want to come out and acknowledge that there was so much drug use going on.”
Ball said her son, who is scheduled for release in October after serving for more than year, has received zero treatment since he was incarcerated.
“If you think about it, he’s an addict who truly has only gotten in trouble because of stealing things to try and get heroin, or getting caught with heroin,” she said. “That’s basically all of [his] crimes.
“You take a 25-year-old who suffers from anxiety and depression, and you put him in this environment where it’s all criminals,” Ball added. “You can imagine, on a daily basis, he just tries to survive and gets no help. And we think he’s going to be successful when he gets out?”
She called her son “an average kid,” far from a poster child for addiction to heroin.
“What usually happens with them, is either they will start through Oxycontin, or they’ll start by snorting the heroin, recreationally, at a party,” she said. “They try it, and it’s so addictive that it’s really not that long before they have to have it and will do anything to get it.”
Ball is working as part of an anti-opiate taskforce with Worcester County State’s Attorney Beau Oglesby. She also works with a Worcester County Health Department committee that examines fatalities related to opiate abuse, and she has spoken about opiate addiction at town hall meetings, and at area high schools and middle schools, including Stephen Decatur High School.
Last month, an employee at the county health department suggested she collaborate with McNeeley, whose letter to Gov. Larry Hogan about opiate abuse had been circulating around the office.
“Basically, I said [to Hogan] that I wanted there to be a resource center and a navigation center for parents, for families, and for loved ones,” McNeeley said. “We needed something that everybody knew where it was, and knew this is what you do if you find out somebody you love is addicted.”
That includes information about rehabilitation centers and insurance coverage, access to experts on addiction and recovery, and regular support meetings, with guest speakers. She said Hogan was receptive and has offered some state assistance, which encouraged the foundation of the Worcester County Warriors Against Opiate Addiction.
The focus of the first meeting will be to gauge interest and seek public input, with an initial goal of increasing public awareness, support and education.
“Part of my vision of this center is to be able to come in and have a cup of tea and say, ‘I’m a mom who is devastated and terrified and I don’t know what to do, and to be able to talk to another mom,” McNeeley said.
“It’s very isolating,” Ball said. “You don’t want to tell anyone, because there’s an extreme amount of guilt. You think that you’ve failed in some way. Other people seem to be talking about, ‘Yeah, my kid just made honor roll,’ and you’re inside going, ‘and mine’s shooting heroin.’ It’s really hard.
“I have been comforted, already, just to know that other people have reached out, and just talking to Heidi,” Ball continued. “It really feels good to know that there are other people who have gone through it, and that we can help other people.”
While they do not expect to go into too much detail about personal experiences during the first meeting, Ball said, “the connections will be there.”
“If somebody wants to talk about personal stuff, we can always connect outside of the meeting,” she said. “That’s going to be everyone’s choice, and you’re in different phases of being able to help other people. If you’re right in the thick of it, where your child is still using, it’s really hard to have enough to give other people. You almost need to just have people help you. Everybody will be different.”
For Ball, who continues to offer talks in area high schools and middle schools, another part of the equation is developing more effective ways to reach children, before they become addicts.
“Every time I ask my son, he says, ‘if you came in, I wouldn’t listen to you.’ Lectures can be alright for parents, and they have their time, but kids – they’re not going to not do something because some parent or some adult lectured them about it,” she said.
“We have to be creative to get the word across about how dangerous it is, because I just do not think they have any idea that they are truly playing with fire,” Ball said. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to make some changes and help some people.”
For more information, or to get involved, search Worcester County Warriors Against Opiate Addiction on Facebook.
Today, Thursday, April 7, they will host the first meeting of a new group, Worcester County Warriors Against Opiate Addiction, at the Ocean Pines Library at 6:30 p.m., designed to help people in similar situations.
“Because I had gone on this journey of addiction, what I came away with was knowing how horrendous this was for somebody that loves somebody who is addicted – how terrifying and how scary that is,” McNeeley said. “I felt like there is this need to support parents, siblings, friends, and people that love people that are addicted, because you are so alone.
“More and more information is coming out and more and more resources are coming out, but it continues to be a really tough journey to navigate – to know what to do, who to call, and what you can do for yourself. Frankly, it almost kills you,” McNeeley added.
For Ball, that tough journey has lasted eight years, watching her son go in and out of treatment facilities, and, eventually, to jail.
“It can just drag you [through it]. You can’t even imagine how painful it is,” she said.
Although her son has since been transferred outside of the county, Ball remembers seeing “at least 12 people from his class in high school” serving alongside him for similar reasons when he was interned at the Worcester County jail last year.
“[Heroin] is becoming so accessible. It’s so cheap. I think that we really need to do more to educate, and the schools have been very reluctant,” she said. “They really didn’t want to come out and acknowledge that there was so much drug use going on.”
Ball said her son, who is scheduled for release in October after serving for more than year, has received zero treatment since he was incarcerated.
“If you think about it, he’s an addict who truly has only gotten in trouble because of stealing things to try and get heroin, or getting caught with heroin,” she said. “That’s basically all of [his] crimes.
“You take a 25-year-old who suffers from anxiety and depression, and you put him in this environment where it’s all criminals,” Ball added. “You can imagine, on a daily basis, he just tries to survive and gets no help. And we think he’s going to be successful when he gets out?”
She called her son “an average kid,” far from a poster child for addiction to heroin.
“What usually happens with them, is either they will start through Oxycontin, or they’ll start by snorting the heroin, recreationally, at a party,” she said. “They try it, and it’s so addictive that it’s really not that long before they have to have it and will do anything to get it.”
Ball is working as part of an anti-opiate taskforce with Worcester County State’s Attorney Beau Oglesby. She also works with a Worcester County Health Department committee that examines fatalities related to opiate abuse, and she has spoken about opiate addiction at town hall meetings, and at area high schools and middle schools, including Stephen Decatur High School.
Last month, an employee at the county health department suggested she collaborate with McNeeley, whose letter to Gov. Larry Hogan about opiate abuse had been circulating around the office.
“Basically, I said [to Hogan] that I wanted there to be a resource center and a navigation center for parents, for families, and for loved ones,” McNeeley said. “We needed something that everybody knew where it was, and knew this is what you do if you find out somebody you love is addicted.”
That includes information about rehabilitation centers and insurance coverage, access to experts on addiction and recovery, and regular support meetings, with guest speakers. She said Hogan was receptive and has offered some state assistance, which encouraged the foundation of the Worcester County Warriors Against Opiate Addiction.
The focus of the first meeting will be to gauge interest and seek public input, with an initial goal of increasing public awareness, support and education.
“Part of my vision of this center is to be able to come in and have a cup of tea and say, ‘I’m a mom who is devastated and terrified and I don’t know what to do, and to be able to talk to another mom,” McNeeley said.
“It’s very isolating,” Ball said. “You don’t want to tell anyone, because there’s an extreme amount of guilt. You think that you’ve failed in some way. Other people seem to be talking about, ‘Yeah, my kid just made honor roll,’ and you’re inside going, ‘and mine’s shooting heroin.’ It’s really hard.
“I have been comforted, already, just to know that other people have reached out, and just talking to Heidi,” Ball continued. “It really feels good to know that there are other people who have gone through it, and that we can help other people.”
While they do not expect to go into too much detail about personal experiences during the first meeting, Ball said, “the connections will be there.”
“If somebody wants to talk about personal stuff, we can always connect outside of the meeting,” she said. “That’s going to be everyone’s choice, and you’re in different phases of being able to help other people. If you’re right in the thick of it, where your child is still using, it’s really hard to have enough to give other people. You almost need to just have people help you. Everybody will be different.”
For Ball, who continues to offer talks in area high schools and middle schools, another part of the equation is developing more effective ways to reach children, before they become addicts.
“Every time I ask my son, he says, ‘if you came in, I wouldn’t listen to you.’ Lectures can be alright for parents, and they have their time, but kids – they’re not going to not do something because some parent or some adult lectured them about it,” she said.
“We have to be creative to get the word across about how dangerous it is, because I just do not think they have any idea that they are truly playing with fire,” Ball said. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to make some changes and help some people.”
For more information, or to get involved, search Worcester County Warriors Against Opiate Addiction on Facebook.