William Short spearheads Community Awareness for Addiction and Recovery and wants everyone to know he is still looking for more community involvement.
Lauren Monica | Anson Record
WADESBORO — Community Awareness for Addiction and Recovery held its monthly meeting Tuesday with rescheduled guest, Stephanie Hoover, who is the OUD/SUD Specialist for FirstHealth of the Carolinas.
Following the loss of her beloved son to a drug overdose, Hoover dedicated her life to helping individuals and families find resources, support and encouragement from substance/opioid use disorders.
Hoover’s own personal trauma led her to develop a speciality in helping families with loved ones in addiction navigate the difficult journey of being both caregiver and supporter.
She says her son’s story began in the home. Hoover describes a family held hostage by a husband and father’s abuse of his family — forcing their young son to take on a role too adult for him to have to master.
Though she eventually escaped the marriage and divorced her husband, the damage had already been done to her young son’s psyche.
“You know that old Julia Roberts movie “Living with the Enemy,” well it was very much like that. We lived on pins and needles at home,” detailed Hoover at Tuesday’s meeting.
“Addiction is a web. It doesn’t just affect the addict, it affects all those around the addict.”
Hoover remembers being home when she received the phone call every parent hopes to never receive — the one saying her son was dead.
“I have learned so much in this journey. I no longer say ‘abuser’ or ‘druggie’ — I say Substance Abuse Disorder or Opioid Disorder. I say ‘help’ instead of ‘support’ and remind them it’s their journey.”
Hoover places a lot of weight on how one interacts with an abuser, from their tone of voice to the language they use, can all affect the perception of a victim of Substance Abuse Disorder.
“We can’t possibly make them feel any worse about themselves than they already do,” counsels Hoover. “We can show them love. We say we are here for you, and I believe in you in a way that you maybe cannot see for yourself right now, but I want to help you get there.”
William Short spearheads Community Awareness for Addiction and Recovery and wants everyone to know he is still looking for more community involvement such as Hoovers’.
Short says 38 harm reduction kits were handed out during the Blacks In Wax performance Sunday.
“This is about the community. We want more community people involved. We are always looking for more ways to do that,” says Short.
Community Awareness for Addiction and Recovery meets at 7 p.m. the fourth Tuesday of each month at the AA building on Country Club Road. April’s meeting will be held at Atrium Health Anson in the Community Room.
