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Families coping with heroin’s deadly grip

By Jon Stevens, For The Greene County Messenger 4 min read
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This is a photo of Lisa Williams' 30-year-old son, Mike, who struggled off-and-on with addiction for 14 years and later died from an overdose in a friend’s home in Aliquippa. Williams, of Waynesburg, said heroin has torn her family apart.

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This is a photo of Lisa Williams’ 30-year-old son, Mike, who struggled off-and-on with addiction for 14 years and later died from an overdose in a friend’s home in Aliquippa. Williams, of Waynesburg, said heroin has torn her family apart.

The scourge of heroin has left an indelible mark on the life of Lisa Williams.

Last February, her 30-year-old son, Mike, who struggled off-and-on with addiction for 14 years, died from an overdose in a friend’s home in Aliquippa.

“This drug, it has torn our family apart,” Williams, 50, of Waynesburg said.

So, it was not just happenstance, but rather by design, that she spent Wednesday helping to clean the Bird Sisters Oxford House on Richhill Street in preparation for its opening early next year when it will become Greene County’s second residential facility for those recovering from drug and alcohol addiction.

This house, named in memory of Don and Lynn Bird’s daughters, Jennifer and Megan — who lost their battles with addiction in 2014, four months apart — is designed especially for women, while the first Oxford House, which opened more than a year ago on Cumberland Street, is for men.

“He (Mike) tried and tried to get clean,” Williams said. “He voluntarily went to rehab and during his clean time, he was like a preacher,” she said. “He hated his addictive life. He wanted to help others.”

But heroin’s grip never let go. As Bob Terry, president of Steps Inside Inc., said, in explaining why the Oxford House model was chosen for Greene County, “There is no cure of alcohol and drug addiction. There is only recovery, and one piece of a program that works is a supportive long-term living environment.”

Williams remembers too well Valentine’s Day this year.

“Mike went off to a job as a DJ, and the next day I get this email from his friend who said Mike was not welcome at his house anymore. He apparently overdosed and was flown to UPMC where he remained brain dead for four days,” she said. “I will never forget making that decision to take him off life support.”

Williams also is a member of the Steps Inside Community Recovery Committee.

“I am there because of my son, and it gives me a reason and it gives me a purpose,” she said.

Because Steps Inside is directly responsible for launching the Oxford Houses in Greene County, Williams has a firsthand exposure to what these houses can accomplish.

Oxford Houses, Terry said, offer the best environment available in the country, and that’s why they were chosen for Greene County. They are evidence-based, have five times better success rates than traditional halfway houses, and cost the community nothing after the initial investment.

Those who come to live at these houses still may be receiving rehabilitation and detoxification treatment. They do not have to be entirely drug-free; however, the rules are quite clear.

There is to be no use of drugs or alcohol and no disruption while living there. The house must be run democratically, with each resident paying equal expense of operating the house. Additionally, there is a screening process and if the applicant passes the application and interview process established under Oxford House guidelines, they are accepted.

The Bird Sisters Oxford House will be able to accommodate up to six women, and Williams could very well be holding out hope that one of those spaces might be taken by someone she knows quite well — her daughter.

“She, too, is struggling,” Williams said.

“I have custody of her four-year-old daughter, and yes, I would like to see her become a resident of the house. But first she has to accept she has a problem. Right now, she is denying she has one.”

Williams has lost a son and doesn’t want to lose a daughter.

“I know how bad heroin is,” she said. “It is the worst thing out there.”

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