The day was as perfect as it could be for the heroin rally in North County near the Carousel Motel. There was a record turnout today, with approximately ninety in attendance. Hugs, tears, sharing and making of new friends, all with the same cause and concern, prevailed as ralliers lined Kingshighway, beginning at Natural Bridge Road. People in fast moving cars, trucks, semi-trucks and on motorcycles honked as they passed the groups of people with their signs that said honk if you hate heroin, or other statements about how heroin destroys lives.

Babies, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, grandparents and friends gathered together to show their interest and concern for the losses we are suffering due to those who have died from heroin, and all with the seriousness of the problem on their mind. Even the Therapy Dog attended the rally and gave her support.

Cold bottles of water brought relief from the heat, as children sat on top of cars with their signs.

At the end of the rally, carnations were given out in memory of Brandon, who died at the motel, and one lady put hers in an ornamental grass in front of the motel. To those of you who could not make the rally today, please continue to support us.

More pictures will be on Facebook.

A young lady in a local high school is to be commended on her involvement and concern with the heroin epidemic. Tori York, a junior at Fox High School in Jefferson County, Missouri, lives in a neighborhood where it isn’t safe for children to be out because of the heroin. Heroin was all around and she was tired of all the people dying because of heroin, not just people she knew, but people everywhere.

In June of 2011, Tori started an event on Facebook – Stop the Heroin. Her friends hit the like button and then friends of her friends, and it spread like wildfire until there were several thousand people who had hit the like button.
On June 25, 2011, the first heroin rally was held in Jefferson County, organized by friends on Facebook. The first heroin T-shirts were made and sold at the rallies, also by people on Facebook. The front of the shirt said “Stop Heroin” and the back said “How many more?” Tori’s mother, Rhonda York, is very proud of her daughter, as she should be. Both Tori and Rhonda have lost friends because of this horrible drug and want it to go away. They show their support anyway they can and attend all of the rallies, and, like many others who are concerned about the heroin problem, they have family and friends they are concerned about.

Again, hats off to a young lady who has made such an impact on raising the awareness of heroin and starting the Stop the Heroin movement, it takes a remarkable person, especially at her age, to be involved in starting something this big. This young lady should be recognized for her strength and concern, to step out for her hatred of heroin, and getting so many followers on Facebook, who ‘took the bull by the horns’ so to speak, and formed the first rally, and many more rallies have followed, as well as town hall meetings. The awareness of heroin has spread across the United States.

I can still hear and see Jeff coming down the hallway saying “Hi, Momma” or “Love you, Momma” as he headed outside. I had told him a story about his younger sister and why she called me momma, and ever since that time, he always called me Momma, too, which would always make me smile inside and a warm feeling would fill my whole being. Jeff was a loner much of his life, but after the death of his older sister in 2008, he became closer to his family.

Jeff had learned when the best time was to take pictures of sunrises and sunsets and was getting ready to share his secrets with me, and we were going to go together. His three-foot -tall green alien was posing in a snow picture that we had sent to the channel two news station last year. His hands were very seldom idle. He picked up a twisted tree branch and sat on his porch looking at it and started making snake sticks out of tree branches, some of his later ones even had heads on them. When he died, he must have still had at least ten or twelve of them left, which the three surviving siblings divided among themselves. We had encouraged him to try to sell them somewhere. He was a whiz at the computer, and even made a dvd label and cover for his grandmother’s dvd that I had made, and the same thing for a cd of his sister’s favorite songs, and songs that reminded us of her.

Jeff had moved out when he was fifteen, because he didn’t like my rules. He moved in with me in December 2010, after losing his place, and those five months were the best months of my life with him, and such good memories to hang onto. During those five months, we quickly rebuilt our relationship. I remember one time he told me that when he moved in with me at that time, he didn’t know if it would work or not because he didn’t know if we could get along, and he said he was completely surprised at how loving I was toward him and how easy going living with me was, and admitted what a terrible teenager he had been.

Jeff slept a lot at home and didn’t feel good quite often, and there would be days at a time where he didn’t eat at all. Then, he would feel better, and eat everything that I made. I remember that he wore long sleeve shirts most of the time, but then again, it was January through May that he lived with me, and I never thought anything about it, but am not sure I would have anyway.

On Saturday, May 14, I was driving home and saw a white dove fly in front of my car and then up into the sky and was gone. I thought that was strange, and wondered if it was true that a white dove is a sign that someone has died and gone to heaven, and I remember thinking, I need to remember this and see if anyone I know dies.

I sat in the living room most of the afternoon, and finally by evening I texted my daughter to see if she had seen or heard from Jeff, and she wrote back, no. I said he hasn’t been out of his room to go to the bathroom or outside or to smoke or anything, and she thought that was strange, and then I said maybe someone stopped by and picked him up, and he wasn’t even home. Within a very short time, my daughter was home and started down the hallway toward Jeff’s room, and I have never done this before but I asked her if she wanted me to go with her and she said no, if he didn’t answer the door, she knew how to get in if he didn’t answer the door. Within a matter of minutes, I heard a loud scream and yelling of the words “No, no, no,” and she came running down the hallway and started outside. I asked what was wrong and she mumbled in between sobs that Jeff was dead, and out the door she ran. I went running down the hallway to his room, and there he lay, on his knees, and his face lying on the carpet. I grabbed my cell phone and called 911. We believe the young lady who had moved in with him for a while started him using drugs. After Jeff’s death, one of his friends went into rehab and one gave up the heroin, or so I am told.

Jeff had no life insurance, but after losing his older sister and having to have her cremated because of no life insurance, Jeff had made it very well known to his younger sister that when he died, he did not want to be cremated, he wanted to be buried. During the visitation at the funeral home, from the time the visiting hours opened until the time they ended, there was a steady stream of people, many of them Jeff’s friends from now and the past, and many were friends of the whole family. He was buried down in the country by his grandmother and his sister (her ashes). We miss him dearly every day and even though it has been almost a year now, I still expect to see him walking down the hallway and saying “Hi, Momma!”

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We are currently in the process of updating and compiling a recent and current list of resources for Heroin Addiction and Substance Abuse in our Region. Please post any resources that we have missed, We appreciate your help.

Can I Stop Using Heroin? – Stop Heroin.

We are moving right along with our spring fever and anti herioin rallies. Many counties in Missouri and illinois are holding these public peacefull displays with brightly colored shirts and posters to catch the eyes of the pubilic. Interesting that many seniors are driving by and giving us participants the “thumbs Up” sign and honks and waves of support. NACDA Townhall meetings continue around the area and are spreading out. STLHEROINHELP Crusader/ Activist is out and about networking and speaking as she promised ,, raising awareness to new heights..We are working hard to get more people on-board and recruiting volunteers as we get more organized. We continue to read and study what kinds of social programs are successful around the world in fighting Heroin addiction. We are very pleased at the positive direction we are moving in and hope to have our website updated and more user friendly .. Thank you for your support and hard work.

why_people_take_drugs

• I THINK ITS FUN
• ITS OK BECAUSE ITS NATURAL
• IM BORED
• EVERYONE DOES IT
• IT WILL BE LEGAL SOON
• YOU DID IT
• I ONLY DO IT ONCE IN A WHILE
• ITS NOT ADDICTIVE
• I CAN STOP ANYTIME

• Upcoming Rally support

We are sorry to announce the passing of Renee Strawser-Cancienne’s mother who passed away suddenly on 3/28/12. The is a memorial service Sunday April 1,2012 At Mastadon Park in Arnold Mo. At 11:30. The purpose of the service is to provide courage,strength and hope to Heroin Addicts and help support one another, People do recover from this disease.