Rising Together

Even though I signed the permission slip a few days ago for Carter to attend a drug-related education presentation by RISE TOGETHER, I forgot about it.

Until some mention on Facebook triggered my memory late this afternoon. And God saw to it that I saw it. I promptly texted Carter and asked how the student presentation was today. He said, "It was very good, in my opinion. Definitely worth it." So I decided I would take the night "off" and go to the evening session geared toward parents and other community members.

What is RISE TOGETHER? In a nutshell, they are a recovery advocacy group that has a passion for prevention, education and community outreach. It was started a few years ago by co-founders Anthony Alvarado and Douglas Darby, both in long-term recovery. The group is comprised of recovering addicts, family members and friends, advocates, and professionals within the community. The primary focus is on preventing substance use and abuse by our youth.

Since the founding of RISE TOGETHER, members have been creating positive change in Wisconsin and beyond. They have spoken in front of thousands of people, mostly students. As they put it, bringing education and awareness to our youth is the key to making a positive difference in any community.

In the past two days, they made multiple presentations in Wisconsin Rapids to reach approximately 3,000 middle and high school students. The presenters – teens and young adults – bring a face and voice to recovery by sharing stories, while bringing hope to the addicts who struggle every day and help prevent our youth from going down the same path of suffering.

Carter said the stories were pretty intense and moving. And I agreed.

Although we had a few different speakers at our sessions, Carter and I both heard from a mother who brought her 21-year-old daughter along – in the form of ashes in an urn – and shared her heartbreaking tale of losing her girl over a heroin overdose. He thought her story was tragic and I, as a mother, couldn't hold it together either.

Much of the focus for us adults was on statistics pointing to the epidemic of heroin use in our community. Heroin? In our little Wisconsin town? Oh yes. I wish the crowd would have been bigger tonight since I have a feeling a good majority of our population is in denial about that. They shared some disturbing statistics, even more disturbing when we parents see what our children are exposed to and have access to. Majorly scary.

When a 17-year-old local boy shared his story of addiction, overdose and near death, I got goose bumps. The kind generated from fear. What kind of world am I sending my own almost 17-year-old into each day?

Thankfully, the group's other message was of hope. I should say hope AND recovery. While the members of RISE TOGETHER desire to prompt communities to focus on prevention, they also urge them to recognize that recovery is possible. Even more so when the appropriate help is available.

There is such a misunderstanding about addiction and recovery. If you have experienced it or know a loved one who has, then you get it, know why it's hard to fight and conquer... and you believe in the power of hope.

I do hope their presentations had an impact on all who attended. I especially hope the students could grasp the life-and-death impact on the prevention end of things. That's where it needs to start. I personally don't need to see another memorial photo or hear another overdose story or poem about wanting to die to escape the harsh realities of being a teenager.

High school life can be hard. Been there. Done that. Know that. What we need our struggling and stressed-out youth to also know is that there are other ways besides drugs to cope with it.

We can face it together if we just RISE TOGETHER, right?