Mason community, faith leaders come together to fight heroin

New network raises funds to help addicts on road to recovery.

Community and faith leaders from Mason are working together to fight against heroin.

After raising $250,000 at their first gala earlier this year, the Community Prayer Network — Fighting Heroin will use those funds to hire professionals who walk addicts through the entire continuum of care.

“It is the gaps between the various stages of recovery that can be deadly,” Mason mayor Victor Kidd said during a meeting of the group this month. “Participants who make it through detox but are unable to find the appropriate short term recovery program are at high risk of relapse. The same is true when transitioning from short term to long term recovery, then from long term recovery to assimilation back into society. The great need is to build safe bridges between those gaps.”

The magnitude of the heroin epidemic and its affect on communities from public safety to schools requires creative, locally-led solutions, according to Kidd, a former pastor.

“This is one of the greatest challenges to the faith community in American history. The church is uniquely equipped to address the epidemic, because of the number of locations in virtually every community in every state. The key is weaving the churches together to form a compassionate and competent network of healing agents to support social services, law enforcement, as well as state and local governments. Churches have a built-in army of volunteers who gather frequently to obtain information and inspiration for healing the hurting.”

So far this year, there have been 32 heroin/fentanyl related overdoses in Warren County, the coroner’s office said. Eleven other causes of death are pending. There were 60 overdoses in 2015, and 18 were heroin-related, the office said.

Heroin overdose deaths in Warren County in 2015 were four times higher than deaths from traffic accidents that same year, according to Marc Champagne, pastor of Redeemer Church and co-organizer of the Community Prayer Network — Fighting Heroin.

“Heroin truly is an epidemic. The numbers are staggering with respect to use, access, cost, ease of addiction and the devastation it brings on families and communities,” he said. “There is a significant education gap about the severity of the issue and also a stigma that leads those who are addicted, along with their families, toward isolation and shame.”

Community Prayer Network — Fighting Heroin will meet monthly at Hope Church in Mason to pray and plans to host two public events each year, organizers said.

“Our fundamental conviction is that heroin is very much a spiritual issue, and so we are leveraging prayer as a key component in the battle,” Champagne said.

“As ugly as this societal scourge is, beauty is emerging. The community is exploring new innovative methods for cooperating toward the common goal of defeating a common enemy,” Kidd said. “In other words, even while heroin is tearing families apart, the epidemic is bringing communities together. From a faith perspective, prayer unites, inspires and motivates those who pray, unleashing extraordinary and otherwise often untapped power.”

One of those initiatives is an adopt-an-addict program, in which volunteers focus on key areas critical for recovery, including transportation, housing, employment, spiritual support, family support, education and prevention.

“Those caught in the throes of addiction are often incapable of solving the many challenges associated with recovery,” Kidd said. “Our intent is to reach out to incarcerated addicts who express interest in the program. The jail necessarily doubles as a detox facility, but unless there are resources readily available upon their release, the gravitational pull of addiction is all too often overwhelming, resulting in a reboot of the addiction cycle. The sad truth is, far too many will wind up right back in jail or dead. We intend to break that cycle.”

The group is also working with School Apps USA in the development of an app designed around prevention and hope to pilot it in partnership with Mason City Schools.

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For more information about Community Prayer Network — Fighting Heroin, email communityprayernet@gmail.com

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