New resource for Clark County families hit by addiction epidemic

A growing regional support group that aims to fill a void for families struggling to help an addicted loved one will begin meeting in Clark County this month.

A new local chapter of Families Of Addicts will hold its first meeting from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Dec. 20 in the Community Room at the Mulberry Terrace Apartments, 120 W. Mulberry St. in Springfield.

RELATED: Springfield partnership shows promise for heroin-addicted moms

The group’s mission is to embrace families and friends of individuals struggling with addiction in order to promote recovery, provide support and encourage advocacy.

“If you look in Ohio, obviously there is an epidemic, particularly with opiates,” said Brad Silvus, who along with his wife, Melanie Silvus, co-directs the county’s new chapter. “In Springfield and Clark County, there’s not a lot of resources to help families that are struggling with this.”

Most of what help that exists is geared toward addicts, Brad Silvus said, which is important.

“But families need help dealing with this, too,” he said.

Data shows that for every addict, an average of eight to 10 family members are also directly affected by it, Brad Silvus said, and oftentimes it’s just as hard on the family as it is on the addict.

“In some cases, it is harder,” he said. “There is no logic to addiction. Things that make sense to most people are not even in the thought processes of somebody who uses.”

Lori Erion, who lives in Park Layne, founded Families of Addicts in October 2013. Erion herself is a recovering addict and then she found out about five or six years ago that her daughter was using heroin. Getting help for her quickly was difficult, she said, and her daughter also walked away from help at times.

“I started thinking of the other families that don’t have any experienced with it and the stigma that they don’t want anyone to know,” Erion said. “And that they didn’t have any way to know where to get help.”

Her interactions with her daughter really opened her eyes.

“She educated me more about addiction than anyone else ever did,” Erion said. “That’s how the group started off, to have people who are struggling, those who are recovering and the families who love them all together in one room.”

Families of Addicts is distinct from many other recovery groups.

“We are not anonymous,” Erion said. “If you go to our Facebook page, you will see pictures of people who were at last night’s meeting. Our motto is, ‘Let’s step out of the shadows and into the light, and let’s talk about it.’”

The Silvuses also know how addiction affects families and the struggle to figure out where to go, what resources are available and what works.

“It’s heartbreaking actually because never once did I ever think I would be going through something like this,” Melanie Silvus said. “The biggest thing is that people don’t see addiction as a disease. You might get treatment, but it doesn’t stop the cravings these addicts go through.”

Melanie Silvus is trained in chemical addiction counseling and plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree in that field, starting in January.

“A lot of times (the families) feel that there is no support, and there’s nothing to look forward to,” she said. “But if the family learns how to stop enabling, that actually helps the addict. The guilty feelings and shame they would have, they learn that they have to get past it.

“If you’re a mom or dad, your job has always been to fix it,” she continued. “But with addiction, it is not easy. But it is possible. It is amazing what support can do.”

The Silvuses sought out help for a family member, but found that they had to go to Beavercreek or Xenia just to get any support. So they started hosting a weekly Nar-Anon meeting at McKinley Hall in Springfield in March. But it was “more of a scripted type of national program,” according to Brad Silvus. Then they heard about Families of Addicts.

“This particular group is more about reaching out and helping communities,” Brad Silvus said. “Our family had been affected by addiction and we wanted to help and give back and support others who are going through it.”

Families of Addicts provides resources, education and counseling, along with support from those who have been through the battle. It has chapters in Troy, Middletown, Washington Court House and Dayton. An estimated 1,500 attended an August rally at Courthouse Square in downtown Dayton.

“You think your story is unique, but in reality there are a lot of commonalities,” Brad Silvus said. “There is a stigma connected to having a loved one who is an addict. What we’ve found is that because of that, there’s a lot of people who just keep quiet and try to deal with it on their own. They need to know that they are not alone.”

Brad Silvus is also in his second year as superintendent of Greenon Local Schools.

“It helps me talk to kids who are struggling, but a little differently than others might,” he said. “I understand what they are going through.”

The need is great, Melanie Silvus said.

“I‘m hoping that the residents of Clark County would really embrace this and be open about it,” she said. “It is a big thing that we as a community come together on this.”


HOW TO GO

What: Families Of Addicts meeting

When: 6:30 to 8 p.m. Dec. 20

Where: Community Room at the Mulberry Terrace Apartments, 120 W. Mulberry St. in Springfield.

Info: Free and open to all families and their loved ones who are struggling with drug addictions, particularly opiates

About the Author