By JACQUELINE DURETT
Correspondent
SOUTH AMBOY — The city is partnering with a group of volunteers to take on the opioid and prescription drug addiction issue going on not only in South Amboy, but in every community.
Resident Kim Kelly Seber, who runs an addiction support group, is the organizer of the opioid awareness event, which will take place 5-8 p.m. Aug. 31 at the Senior Center on South Stevens Avenue. The event will be followed by a candlelight vigil.
Seber held a similar event in Sayreville last year, she said, but following the May death of resident Jesse Flynn from a heroin overdose, she knew she had to hold something in her hometown.
There will be speakers, including Mayor Fred Henry and Council President Mickey Gross, and more than a dozen resource tables will be available so that those who need assistance can connect with the most appropriate organization for their needs.
Seber stressed there is no one-size-fits-all method that successfully addresses addiction. However, she said, the one thing that no one facing addiction needs is shame, and it is something that most people who are afraid to get help are dealing with.
“There are too many people living in shame, and it should not be this way,” she said.
Addiction can happen in any family, she said.
“People need to start talking about it. There’s nothing wrong with talking about it.”
Seber, the mother of a son who is in recovery, said the openness of Linda Petra, Flynn’s mother, about the cause of her son’s death has opened up an important dialogue among residents and between residents and city officials. Petra will also be speaking at the Aug. 31 event.
Seber said the city has been extremely cooperative in setting up the event. To drive awareness of the issue and to promote the event, she and other volunteers will be putting up purple ribbons and balloons all over the city the way others recently did with pink ribbons for breast cancer awareness.
“If we’re going to make the statement, we’re going to make it loud and clear,” she said of the decision to decorate the city with ribbons.
She is also accepting photos and shoes of those who have passed away from opioid and prescription drug addiction to create visual representations at the event.
Seber said her work will not end with this event. In fact, she said she’s working with the city police department on bringing a version of the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative, which started in Gloucester, Massachusetts, last year. The program includes police assisting those with an addiction in finding help.
“If they want [help], they deserve to have it,” Seber said.
For more information about the event, call Seber at 908-565-4415.