Kane County campaign lets people struggling with addiction tell their stories

GENEVA – Penny Stark told about her struggle with addiction.

Stark talked about it in a video – a public video for all to see – on the Kane County Health Department’s website, overdoseinfo.org, where people in recovery talk about their struggles and harm reduction.

“When I start, I can’t stop. If I stop on my own, I can’t stay stopped. And I can’t stop starting,” Stark said.

“OK, I’ve got to do something different because what I am doing isn’t working. That was when I was willing to reach out for help,” Stark said. “I have been sober since Dec. 3 of 2018. I just celebrated five years. There’s a whole other side to addiction. It’s called recovery.”

The video series is part of a new Kane County Health Department initiative – “Your Story Matters” – to raise awareness, prevent opioid overdose deaths and encourage people suffering from addiction to get help, officials announced in a news release.

Framed around the concept that every person has a unique and compelling story to share, the Health Department developed the series of videos highlighting the testimonies of those with close ties to the opioid epidemic, according to the release.

“The impacts of opioid overdoses are far-reaching and affect so many in Kane County, from those suffering with opioid addiction and their loved ones to the many first responders and health care providers who give treatment,” Health Department Executive Director Michael Isaacson said in the release. “Through this campaign, we hope to help everyone impacted by this crisis and to direct them to the resources they may need.”

‘It was going to be my thing’

Another video features a youth named Joseph, who talks about his mother being prescribed hydrocodone and Oxycontin to treat the pain of rheumatoid arthritis.

“When I was 13, 14, I went in the medicine cabinet once and found one of her pill bottles,” Joseph says in the video. “I knew immediately it was going to be my thing.”

Joseph said he took his mother’s pain medicine for two to three years and then began using heroin.

“I kind of feel like everybody who has addiction has like a moment for them where that moment changes everything for them,” Joseph said. “I had two. One was one of my friends dying. And then the other was I thought that I was pretty much (dead) when I overdosed once. So right now, I take 90 milligrams of methadone once a day. ... It takes away the physical urge to go use, but also the mental side of it.”

“Your Story Matters” intends to reach Kane County residents of all demographics, including those with substance use disorders, their family members, community members, first responders and health care personnel.

The campaign also informs about the risk of opioid overdose and directs people to resources that can help.

#YourStoryMatters

“Although this is a crisis that impacts a large number of people, everyone has an individual story and each of their experiences matters,” Isaacson said in the release. “By sharing those stories, we hope that others who can relate to them feel less alone and more comfortable reaching out and getting the help that’s available.”

To accompany the series of video testimonies, the Health Department will launch a social media campaign to encourage people to share their stories under the #YourStoryMatters hashtag, according to the release.

The intent is to reach larger audiences and increase awareness of the opioid/fentanyl epidemic and its detrimental consequences.

By placing harm reduction at the forefront, the campaign also aims to educate the public about the benefits of naloxone, a lifesaving nasal spray that reverses an opioid-related overdose.

Kane County received a $466,620 State Opioid Response grant through the Illinois Department of Human Services to assist in distributing naloxone.

To illustrate what harm reduction means, a video from Lyndsay Hartman shows her setting up an Association for Individual Development Harm Reduction Pop Up in a parking lot. It shows a hot pink and white sign promoting safer use supplies and Narcan, the formal drug name for naloxone.

“We see a lot of times that folks get what they need once they decide they want to be sober. And that’s missing a giant group of folks ... any positive change. That’s it. That’s harm reduction. That’s recovery. Any positive change,” Hartman said.

“People don’t realize that. They’re like, ‘So and so uses drugs. So and so needs treatment.’ And I’m like no, no, no. There’s space in between. And there’s support in between. We just need to cheer people on,” Hartman said. “That’s what harm reduction does, too, is that it creates and validates those choices.”

The Association for Individual Development offers harm reduction pop-up events on Tuesdays in Batavia, Wednesdays in Aurora and Thursdays in Elgin.

Opioid overdose deaths

In its semiannual overdose report at overdoseinfo.org, the Illinois Public Health Department said 110,640 people died from drug overdoses in the U.S. from January 2022 to January 2023.

“With increasing drug overdose deaths, opioids continue to account for the majority of deaths,” according to the report.

The ongoing opioid crisis impacts people of all ages, genders, races and socioeconomic statuses, according to the state report.

In 2022, Illinois had 3,261 opioid overdose deaths, an increase of 8.2% over 2021, which had 3,013 deaths, according to the report.

Kane County reported 75 opioid-related deaths in 2022. Of those, 90 included all drugs – such as cocaine, heroin and alcohol – and 66 deaths involved fentanyl.

The Kane County Health Department uses the term “opioid-related deaths” because many involve multiple drugs. And while some deaths can’t be attributed solely to an opioid, there is evidence an opioid was involved, officials said.

Kane County first responders used naloxone 95 times so far this year to reverse a suspected overdose, according to the Health Department.

Opioids are a class of drugs that includes prescription pain relievers Oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine and morphine and the illegal drug heroin.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fentanyl is an opioid 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine.

Pharmaceutical fentanyl treats severe pain such as after surgery or advanced stage cancer.

Illegally made fentanyl, which is linked to fentanyl-related overdose deaths, is commonly mixed with other drugs so the user is not aware of how dangerous the drug is, according to the CDC website.