Stories were told and tears were shed in Ferdinand last night.
The Dubois County Substance Abuse Council held its 3rd Annual Overdose Awareness Candlelight Vigil.
Guest speakers, like Josh Graves from Safe Haven Recovery Center in Paoli, spoke about struggles with addiction.
Halie Anderson, another guest speaker from the event, spoke about why an event like the vigil was so important.
“In Dubois County, in the 90s, did start as a place where alcoholism was kind of a hidden secret. With 12 step program sometimes we tend to be a little bit quieter for anonymity to protect people, but there are some people like me that don’t mind to live recovery out loud. I feel like I was kind of living in the shadows and dying silently and I didn’t know there were women out there that were like me that I could reach out to that would help me. So if I’m there it to be that hand to always reach out to the next woman, then there’s always a resource and they don’t have to sit there silently and suffer”
Guests from the audience spoke as well about their experiences with addiction before the names of those who lost their life due to drug overdoses were read out loud.
Dubois County Substance Abuse Council Coordinator Jenna Bieker hosted the event. Bieker says that events like the annual candlelight vigil are used to shed light on addiction issues within Dubois County.
“So we actually rotate the event through Dubois County for the specific purpose that addiction happens everywhere. It affects everyone and Dubois County is not exempt from that. We had it in Jasper. Last year was in Huntingburg. This year is in Ferdinand because I think it’s really important to move through the county not only to show that addiction is a problem everywhere but to make everybody in the county feel supported.”
To learn more about the Dubois County Substance Abuse Council, visit their social media on Facebook and Twitter.
