Foreword FORMER GOVERNOR OF OHIO TED STRICKLAND xi Introduction DANIEL SKINNER AND BERKELEY FRANZ xv PART ONE: ESTABLISHING PLACE 1 Ode to the Corner of the Drug House Down the Gravel Road Off the Two-Lane Highway #29 DARREN C. DEMAREE (COLUMBUS) 5 2 Reflections of a Recovery Writer ANNIE HIGHWATER (GROVE CITY) 6 3 A Place for "Total Recovery" MEMBERS OF TOLEDO RESTORATION CHURCH (TOLEDO) 11 4 Building Community in the B. Riley Sober House RAFAEL "TONY" CORREA (CLEVELAND) 16 5 Walking Past Abandoned Houses, I Think of Eric BARBARA COSTAS-BIGGS (PORTSMOUTH) 20 6 How Are the Children? JOY EDGELL (BELPRE) 22 7 A Haven from Human Trafficking and Addiction JEFF BARROWS (ZANESFIELD) 26 8 A New Home MARY LYNN ST. LAWRENCE (ATHENS) 30 CONTENTS v i * C ontents 9 Collaboration in Middletown TRAVIS BAUTZ (MIDDLETOWN) 33 10 Defiance, Ohio Is the Name of a Band HANIF ABDURRAQIB (COLUMBUS) 37 11 A Heartache Not My Own CAITLIN SEIDA (THE PLAINS) 40 PART TWO: PROCESSING LOSS 12 What Addiction Gave Me TONY ANDERS (UPPER ARLINGTON) 47 13 The Stories Make It Real: A Mayor in the Heart of the Opioid Epidemic NAN WHALEY (DAYTON) 51 14 Jane''s Story KERRI MONGENEL (ASHTABULA) 55 15 A Coach''s Regrets MATT DENNISON (NEW PHILADELPHIA) 60 16 An Individual''s Addiction, A Family''s Loss AJ, JENNA, SHERIE, AND ALAN STEINBERGER (HIGHLAND HEIGHTS) 65 17 The Pain of Wanting to Help ANONYMOUS 71 18 My Reality at the Bedside HANK ROSSITER (KIDRON) 74 19 What Happens Under the Overpass NEIL CARPATHIOS (PORTSMOUTH) 78 20 Community and Vulnerability BRIAN SCHWEITZER (COLUMBUS) 80 21 Remaking a Family CHRIS, ESTELLA, AND TYLER FERRELL (MINFORD) 85 22 Dear Travis VICKI SCHARBACH (OLMSTED FALLS) 92 23 Despair GERALD E. GREENE (DAYTON) 98 C ontents * v i i PART THREE: MAKING SENSE 24 A Predictable and Utterly Preventable Catastrophe MICHAEL HENSON (CINCINNATI) 103 25 Standing Proud ERIC UNGARO (POLAND) 112 26 Uncle Sugar ANISI DANIELS-SMITH (HIRAM) 118 27 Potential Energy APRIL DEACON (WHEELERSBURG) 122 28 The Road to Recovery ALEX DRIEHAUS (CINCINNATI) 129 29 From Felon to Law Enforcement: A Retrospective BRANDY E. MORRIS-HAFNER (CHILLICOTHE) 141 30 A Little Too Close to Home KEITH F. DURKIN (ADA) 147 31 Deluded MARTY HELMS (CINCINNATI) 152 32 Opioid Encounters: Fragments from Training and Practice JENNY ZAMOR (COLUMBUS) 161 33 An Awakening JOE GAY (ATHENS) 165 PART FOUR: DEVISING SOLUTIONS 34 This Is Not the Medicine I Want to Practice: One Physician''s Journey to Heal, Not Harm KATY KROPF (ATHENS) 175 35 Problem-Solving in Colerain Township DANIEL MELOY (CINCINNATI) 182 36 The Buck Fifty DAVE HUGGINS, CHRIS SCOTT, AND ANGIE FERGUSON (CHILLICOTHE) 186 37 Plans after Prison JONATHAN BECKER (AKRON) 194 v i i i * C ontents 38 Avoiding the Abyss SHARON PARSONS (BEXLEY) 197 39 All the Narcan in the World DAVID KESEG (COLUMBUS) 201 40 Pause for Change NANCY POOK (DAYTON) 206 41 Reconnecting through Rhythm: A Symphony and Recovery WARREN W. HYER (DELAWARE) 211 42 Rural Challenges, Rural Solutions STEVEN MARTIN, AMY FANOUS, AND KATIE WESTGERDES (ADA) 216 43 A Way Forward for Moms and Babies RICHARD MASSATTI (COLUMBUS) 223 44 From the Front Pages to the Front Lines DARREN ADAMS (PORTSMOUTH) 230 PART FIVE: CHALLENGING ASSUMPTIONS 45 A Good Family CHRISTINE HUNT (RUSSELLS POINT) 239 46 Feral JESSICA HARPER AND SARAH BENEDUM (MADISON) 243 47 Recovery Should Be Celebrated, Not Judged LACEY WHITLATCH (ATHENS) 247 48 Serve and Protect DENNIS WHALEY (TOLEDO) 251 49 What Do Libraries Do? NICK TEPE (ATHENS) 254 50 Confronting Stigma in Portsmouth TRACI MOLLOY 260 51 Everybody Played Along ANONYMOUS (COLUMBUS) 268 52 The Making of a Public Health Emergency YVONKA MARIE HALL (CLEVELAND) 271 53 The Addict, a Human Being STEPHANIE KENDRICK (ALBANY) 276 C ontents * i x Acknowledgments 279 Glossary of Drugs 281.