Community members team up to fight teen suicide and drug abuse
By Tracy Ouellette
Staff Writer
Cindi Schweitzer, owner of Integrity Funeral Services in Waterford, says she’s buried too many teenagers due to suicide and/or drug abuse. Her desire to do something to change that led her to form iCare, a community group dedicated to helping families find the help they need to try to stop some of these needless deaths.
“Our main focus is providing information we all need to know in order to prevent problems in our lives, such as help for suicide, drug and alcohol abuse, grief, mental illness, divorce, parenting, etc.” says Schweitzer.
When Schweitzer began forming the group a few months ago and started telling people her plans, she says the response seemed unanimous, “What can we do to help?”
Adults, teens, businesses, churches and area school programs such as TEAM and Partners2 came together to fight for the youth of the community.
Christina Converset, who runs the TEAM and Partners2 programs for the Waterford Union High School and Burlington Area School Districts, says they were excited to join with iCare because TEAM and Partners2 are all about networking the communities together “to help the youth make healthy choices.”
Converset says TEAM and Partners2 reach about a 100 troubled kids a year in the two communities. “We provide the kids and families a place to get help.”
One of the first of those to come on board was Racine County Sheriff’s Deputy Cindy Milam, who is stationed in the Village of Rochester.
Milam says she met Schweitzer when she was doing a business check at Integrity.
“I went in to introduce myself and Cindi took one look at me and said, ‘I prayed for you. I need a deputy.’ And here I walked in the door.’”
Milam says Schweitzer told her about what she wanted to do in the community and she was more than willing to lend a hand. She works with iCare as a representative of the Sheriff’s Department with the goal of offering education and support.
“We want parents to know that it’s OK to ask for help,” she said. “We want to educate and encourage parents to step forth when they see the signs that there’s a problem and come to us and ask for help. It’s why the Sheriff’s Department is here.”
Milam says many in the community don’t understand how bad the drug problem is. “People say it’s not out here, but it is. There are weekly arrests made in Western Racine County and daily arrests in the City of Racine.”
Milam says drugs like marijuana, heroin and cocaine can be found just about anywhere and the abuse of prescription pain medication, especially by teens, is rampant. It’s why iCare is holding its Resource Fair on April 27, the national Drug Enforcement Administration’s Take-Back Day. One simple step anyone can take to prevent prescription drug abuse is to get rid of the old medications in their home.
“People are not aware that drug abuse is a huge problem in the Waterford area,” says Schweitzer. “One of the main ways teens are obtaining drugs is stealing them from medicine cabinets at home, at friends or relatives, and from any houses they are invited into.”
Anyone with prescription or over the counter drugs they are not currently using, can bring them to Take Back America sponsored by the DEA and Racine County Metro Drug Unit at the iCare Resource Fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 27, at Community United Methodist Church, 455 S. Jefferson St., Waterford.
The fair will host several guest speakers who will talk on a variety of subjects including drug abuse, grief, suicide prevention and recovery.
There will also be counseling help, kids’ activities, therapy horses, emergency vehicles and more.
For more information: icare-local.org
Kingdom Concert
Following the Resource Fair at Community Methodist there will be a concert featuring area worship leaders and musicians Douglas Allen Richmond, Doug Shea and Haley Klinkhammer. The show is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m.
There is no charge for the concert, but free-will offerings are welcome.
-
-
-
-
-