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Heroin addiction has quickly become an epidemic across the United States, affecting every community -- including those in the Diocese of Albany. Even as grassroots organizations, media outlets and politicians address the problem, addiction continues to devastate families.

SEAN'S STORY

For Tim and Kimberly Murdick, the crisis hits home. Their son, Sean, passed away after an overdose Sept. 28, 2015. He was 22 years old.

After breaking his arm in 2014, Sean had been prescribed oxycodone. As has happened with countless young people, the use of prescription painkillers led to heroin addiction.

Sean tried to get help more than a dozen times. His parents helped him get into a number of different treatment centers for the short stints in detox that are allowed; he was even in a program at a rehabilitation center in Florida for six months and managed to get clean before relapsing into addiction.

Mr. Murdick said that, throughout his son's journey, he began to see how poor the country's laws and regulations surrounding the treatment of addicts are. Sean was turned away from hospitals and released from rehabs before he was ready.

The Murdick family, parishioners of St. Henry's in Averill Park, is now on a mission to reform the way addicts are treated. A month after Sean passed away, Mr. Murdick and his wife started Nopiates, a community action and lobbying initiative.

"We're not going to sit back," Mr. Murdick told The Evangelist. "The system is broken in New York."

The group has talked with elected officials and community members to help reform the way addicts are treated. The ultimate goal is to make drug rehabilitation privatized in the way that the Head Start program (which provides education and health services for low-income children) has become privatized, but to receive state funding, as well.

The group is also advocating for funding from big pharmacy cooperations to support rehabilitation programs. Mr. Murdick and the other members of Nopiates believe that "Big Pharma" is to blame for the epidemic of heroin to begin with.

Sean's story of addiction following the use of prescription painkillers isn't unique. After the development of artificial opiates, physicians began prescribing them and pharmacies dispensing them without understanding the addictive qualities of the drugs.

Mr. Murdick has gotten guidance from Rev. Peter Young, a retired priest of the Diocese who founded the Peter Young Housing, Industries and Treatment program. PYHIT helps people with addiction to find treatment, housing, vocational training and job placement.

"He's kind of guiding us on who we need to talk to," Mr. Murdick said, noting that Father Young has spent decades in ministry to people struggling with addictions.

Having lived through his son's battle with addiction, Sean's passing and the creation of the Nopiates initiative, Mr. Murdick believes his faith has been strengthened.

"I see God in Sean," he said. "It hurts, but this is what we were meant to do. Sean was a gift when he came into the world, and he was a gift when he came out."

Mr. Murdick now considers fighting for advocacy and education on heroin addiction to be his vocation.

Nopiates sponsors rallies and functions around the Diocese, including an upcoming talk at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy Dec. 12. For more information, go to www.nopiates.org.

'BEYOND EPIDEMIC'

"It's beyond an epidemic," said Rev. Thomas Berardi, a retired priest of the Diocese, about the heroin crisis in the country and locally.

Father Berardi's grandnephew, Ryan Kelder, passed away in 2015 after a heroin overdose.

"As his uncle, it's heartbreaking. I never imagined I would be doing a funeral for my 24-year-old grandnephew," he told The Evangelist.

After Ryan's passing more than a year ago, Father Berardi has taken it upon himself to talk about the crisis of heroin addiction whenever possible. Before retiring, he was pastor of Sacred Heart parish in Lake George; he would address addiction when speaking in the pulpit and in talking to faith formation classes.

"The problem is, a lot of people don't talk about it," he said. "People don't know what to do. They don't know who to talk to. They feel embarrassed to talk about it."

Ryan's parents, Carole and Vincent Kelder, have made a point to speak publicly about addiction, too. "They have talked to a lot of parent groups," Father Berardi said. And Ryan's sister, Randi, talks with young people at schools about breaking the cycle of addiction.

The priest believes the recent surge in media attention to the crisis is helping, but it isn't enough: More open discussion of addiction doesn't always mean help is accessible to people in need, he said.

"Sometimes, parents go into denial," he told The Evangelist. "They blame themselves. They say, 'What did we do wrong?' They begin to beat themselves up. That's one of the things that my niece and her husband talk about. It's not their fault."

Father Berardi finds it especially troubling that heroin is affecting younger and younger people. It's scary, he said -- and the people who are dealing the drug are good at marketing it.

"They realize that, if they lower the price, they will have more of a market," said the priest. "It is less expensive, but it's the killer. Heroin is the killer. It's just a matter of when."

(For help with addiction, call the New York State heroin assistance hotline, 1-877-8-HOPENY. Contact Peter Young Housing, Industries and Treatment at 518-463-8485.)[[In-content Ad]]

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