(June 2, 2016) Heidi McNeely has seen the effects of the heroin epidemic in Worcester County personally, having watched her son struggle with addiction like so many other parents in this area, and across the country.
Now that he is in recovery and by all accounts doing well, she has dedicated herself to raising awareness and finding solutions to the problem, chiefly through her new group the Worcester County Warriors Against Opiate Addiction.
During their first meeting a few months ago, they drew about 50 people. Last month, during the group’s second meeting, that number was closer to 300.
“Isn’t that remarkable?” McNeely said in an interview on Monday. “I think several factors came into play. A lot of people heard about us through [various newspaper articles] and on Facebook.”
In particular, McNeely credited Brad Hoffman, whose 500-word “anti-opiate rant” in late April was shared almost 350 times. Another post on social media also helped boost attendance.
“There was also another overdose death and our sister-warrior’s son, Kyle [Harmon], wound up on life support as a result of opiates,” McNeely said. “She posted on Facebook, ‘So many people are asking what you can do? Here is what you can do – attend this meeting and join this group so we can battle this problem together.’ I think many people attended in honor of Lauren and her son.”
Guest speakers at the May 24 meeting, held at the Worcester County Worship Center in Berlin, included a state delegate, the Worcester County State’s Attorney and members from the county board of education, the health department and the drug task force.
That, McNeely said, all happened “by the grace of God.”
“They each contacted us and expressed their support and asked what they could do, so we invited them to the meeting,” she said. “Believe me, we planned absolutely nothing.”
At the start of the meeting, McNeely asked for a moment of silence for Harmon, as well as four other local people, Chris Taylor, Patt Ligor, Dylan Ludlam and Mark Beinschroth.
Ludlam, who apparently suffered a fatal drug overdose last month, was a neighbor of McNeely for about eight years.
“He was my son’s first friend – a talented musician, great looking, intelligent, loving young man,” she said. “That was absolutely devastating.
“My son had another friend [who overdosed] that I knew since he was 11,” she continued. “They were friends through middle and high school, and he was an absolutely great kid – funny, smart and from a wonderful, loving family. He overdosed in February and that is kind of what solidified for me that I needed to move ahead with this vision I had.”
She added that she receives an average of five emails a day from other people who have “lost their children to death, jail or [their children are] on life support.”
The next step for the Warriors is to form subcommittees, drilling down into areas of education, awareness and resources navigation in order to best utilize the energy of a suddenly involved public.
“That was a result of our first meeting,” McNeely said. “Jackie [Ball], Cheryl [Hassett] and I felt like the best way to focus everyone’s interests and passions would be to form committees that could utilize them. So many people have signed up, and we are very excited about that. Our meetings will begin in June.”
The next “general” Warriors meeting will be held on June 21 at the Ocean City Firehouse on 15th street, an even larger venue.
McNeely hopes she and Warriors co-founder Ball can keep the momentum going.
“I think that last meeting was absolutely outstanding,” she said. “We were so grateful to Pastor Bryan and [the Worship Center] for letting us be there. The facilities were ideal.
“We expected a lot of people because Facebook showed that a lot of people were coming, but we also knew that could be very ambiguous,” she continued. “By 6:25, the 230 seats were filled and people were spilling outside. It was amazing and overwhelming. I was so proud of our community.
“No one was angry or offensive, even though they may not have agreed with everything that was said. I think every person in that room was there because they want to see an end to this.
“There were a couple of people there who are struggling with addiction and that just tore at my heart. They were there because they want help – they want to be healed. That’s why we do this – because we want to make help easy for them to find and get.”
After the initial meeting, McNeely said there was no doubt in the minds of the organizers that they were onto something. The second session, however, drove that sentiment home. It appeared as though a movement had been born, and all the guest speakers there seemed to agree on one thing: no one had ever seen anything like it.
“Now, every night that I turn on my computer and read about someone else in trouble, or another mom who is hurting, I think about the Mark Twain quote that Kevin Hassett shared at our first meeting: ‘The two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why.’ I am pretty sure I have discovered why,” she said.
The Worcester County Warriors Against Opiate Addiction is driven by a steering committee that includes McNeely, Ball, Hassett, Richard Dize, Jamie McNeeley and Sean Kelley.
For more information, email McNeely at heidi@wocowarriors.org, visit www.wocowarriors.org, or search “Worcester County Warriors Against Opiate Addiction” on Facebook.
Now that he is in recovery and by all accounts doing well, she has dedicated herself to raising awareness and finding solutions to the problem, chiefly through her new group the Worcester County Warriors Against Opiate Addiction.
During their first meeting a few months ago, they drew about 50 people. Last month, during the group’s second meeting, that number was closer to 300.
“Isn’t that remarkable?” McNeely said in an interview on Monday. “I think several factors came into play. A lot of people heard about us through [various newspaper articles] and on Facebook.”
In particular, McNeely credited Brad Hoffman, whose 500-word “anti-opiate rant” in late April was shared almost 350 times. Another post on social media also helped boost attendance.
“There was also another overdose death and our sister-warrior’s son, Kyle [Harmon], wound up on life support as a result of opiates,” McNeely said. “She posted on Facebook, ‘So many people are asking what you can do? Here is what you can do – attend this meeting and join this group so we can battle this problem together.’ I think many people attended in honor of Lauren and her son.”
Guest speakers at the May 24 meeting, held at the Worcester County Worship Center in Berlin, included a state delegate, the Worcester County State’s Attorney and members from the county board of education, the health department and the drug task force.
That, McNeely said, all happened “by the grace of God.”
“They each contacted us and expressed their support and asked what they could do, so we invited them to the meeting,” she said. “Believe me, we planned absolutely nothing.”
At the start of the meeting, McNeely asked for a moment of silence for Harmon, as well as four other local people, Chris Taylor, Patt Ligor, Dylan Ludlam and Mark Beinschroth.
Ludlam, who apparently suffered a fatal drug overdose last month, was a neighbor of McNeely for about eight years.
“He was my son’s first friend – a talented musician, great looking, intelligent, loving young man,” she said. “That was absolutely devastating.
“My son had another friend [who overdosed] that I knew since he was 11,” she continued. “They were friends through middle and high school, and he was an absolutely great kid – funny, smart and from a wonderful, loving family. He overdosed in February and that is kind of what solidified for me that I needed to move ahead with this vision I had.”
She added that she receives an average of five emails a day from other people who have “lost their children to death, jail or [their children are] on life support.”
The next step for the Warriors is to form subcommittees, drilling down into areas of education, awareness and resources navigation in order to best utilize the energy of a suddenly involved public.
“That was a result of our first meeting,” McNeely said. “Jackie [Ball], Cheryl [Hassett] and I felt like the best way to focus everyone’s interests and passions would be to form committees that could utilize them. So many people have signed up, and we are very excited about that. Our meetings will begin in June.”
The next “general” Warriors meeting will be held on June 21 at the Ocean City Firehouse on 15th street, an even larger venue.
McNeely hopes she and Warriors co-founder Ball can keep the momentum going.
“I think that last meeting was absolutely outstanding,” she said. “We were so grateful to Pastor Bryan and [the Worship Center] for letting us be there. The facilities were ideal.
“We expected a lot of people because Facebook showed that a lot of people were coming, but we also knew that could be very ambiguous,” she continued. “By 6:25, the 230 seats were filled and people were spilling outside. It was amazing and overwhelming. I was so proud of our community.
“No one was angry or offensive, even though they may not have agreed with everything that was said. I think every person in that room was there because they want to see an end to this.
“There were a couple of people there who are struggling with addiction and that just tore at my heart. They were there because they want help – they want to be healed. That’s why we do this – because we want to make help easy for them to find and get.”
After the initial meeting, McNeely said there was no doubt in the minds of the organizers that they were onto something. The second session, however, drove that sentiment home. It appeared as though a movement had been born, and all the guest speakers there seemed to agree on one thing: no one had ever seen anything like it.
“Now, every night that I turn on my computer and read about someone else in trouble, or another mom who is hurting, I think about the Mark Twain quote that Kevin Hassett shared at our first meeting: ‘The two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why.’ I am pretty sure I have discovered why,” she said.
The Worcester County Warriors Against Opiate Addiction is driven by a steering committee that includes McNeely, Ball, Hassett, Richard Dize, Jamie McNeeley and Sean Kelley.
For more information, email McNeely at heidi@wocowarriors.org, visit www.wocowarriors.org, or search “Worcester County Warriors Against Opiate Addiction” on Facebook.