Please read the below Chicago Tribune article and pass to OTHERS in the community.
By John
Keilman
Audrey
Albright, of Lombard, agreed to host a lawn display of tombstones
symbolizing those who die every day in the U.S. from drug overdoses. She
lost her son Michael Savastano to a heroin overdose in 2012.
Audrey Albright, of Lombard,
agreed to host a lawn display of tombstones symbolizing those who die
every day in the U.S. from drug overdoses. She lost her son Michael
Savastano to a heroin overdose in 2012.
From the
porch of her Lombard home, Audrey Albright watched a sedan roll to a stop as
the driver peered at an unusual display in Albright's front yard: dozens of
spray-painted Styrofoam tombstones and three banners decrying the toll of drug
overdose deaths.
"That's
what cars always do," said Albright, who lost her son Michael Savastano to
a heroin overdose in 2012. "They slow down and take a look."
That's the
idea behind the exhibit, which is traveling from yard to yard this summer in an
effort to raise awareness of a scourge that has bedeviled the Chicago area for
years with few signs of relenting.
Those
who are hosting the tombstones say that even after hundreds of opiate-related
deaths across the area, many people remain ignorant of the power of heroin and
narcotic prescription pills — just as they themselves were before the drugs
brought tragedy to their homes.
"It's
not only the kids we've got to get to," said Cheryl Cummings, an Elmhurst
resident whose son Spencer died of a heroin overdose in 2012. "We also
have to get to the whole community, because people just have their head in the
sand. They think it doesn't happen in Elmhurst. It does. It happens
everywhere."
The
tombstones debuted last year at a vigil put on by Stop Overdose Illinois, a
group that trains people in the use of an overdose-stopping medication called
naloxone. Kathleen Kane-Willis, a Roosevelt University researcher who is part
of the group, said they symbolize the roughly 100 people nationwide who die
each day from drug overdoses.
But the
vigil's location at Roosevelt's Schaumburg campus put the tombstones far away
from the main road, Kane-Willis said. This year, she said, some members of the
group decided to bring the visual message to some of the communities where
drugs have already done their damage.
"This
is a really smart way to get people to pay attention, in a way a vigil or
balloon release or things like that won't," Kane-Willis said.
Cassandra
Wingert, who has been transporting and setting up the tombstones, said they
were first placed at the Wauconda fire station a few weeks ago before moving to
a 5K run and a series of private suburban homes.
On Saturday,
the tombstones were set up at a walkathon in Addison dedicated to the memory of
Louie Miceli, who died of a heroin overdose in 2012. The display included a
sign with a message aimed at families already dealing with drug addiction:
"Opiate
overdose is REVERSIBLE! Naloxone saves lives!"
Debi
Andonoplas, Miceli's aunt, said while the medication has become standard issue
for area police officers in recent years, many drug users' parents still don't
know about it.
"There are people we know who, after their young children left rehab,
never even knew about this," she said. "If someone happens to be with
them when they're overdosing, (naloxone) can save them until the authorities
get there."
Marian
Huhman, an assistant communication professor at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign, specializes in social marketing campaigns that involve public
health issues, and said a bold image like a tombstone certainly can leave an
impression.
But she
added that strong images run the risk of going too far, causing people to tune
out the message rather than absorb it.
"The
real crux is figuring out what the emotional drivers are that will get a
segment of the population to change their behavior," she said.
Albright
said it was indeed hard to measure the effects of the display. Aside from cars
slowing to take a closer look, she said she has had one conversation with a
neighbor who encouraged her to keep speaking out.
She hoped,
though, that the tombstones would prompt people in her community to educate
themselves.
"I have
to think back before my son was involved in heroin and what I knew, which was
absolutely nothing," Albright said. "I think that if they read the
paper they should know something, but I think we need to keep stressing (that
the drug is) addictive and deadly."
The
tombstones will conclude their tour at an Aug. 30 vigil at Busse Woods in Elk
Grove Village, where speakers will address the heroin issue and experts will
train people in the use of naloxone. From there, the tombstones might appear at
a few one-day events but otherwise will be put away until better weather
returns (Styrofoam doesn't hold up well in autumn rain and winter snow).
Wingert said
one measure of the traveling exhibit's success will be if the vigil, which is
promoted on a banner that accompanies the tombstones, attracts a big crowd. But
they've already proven so popular within the recovery community that some are
looking at making multiple sets out of sturdier material, she said.
"We
definitely would like to see there be fewer (tombstones), but so long as this
is an issue, and so long as there are continuing deaths, we would like to
continue to have them travel," she said.
Stay Safe and Alert!!!
Later, Leroy Duncan
Beat Facilitator
25th District Police
Department
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