Take Action Coalition of Clinton County did their part in bringing attention to overdose awareness during the annual overdose awareness event on Sunday, Aug. 31, at Northside Park in Breese.
Overdose awareness day is internationally observed on Aug. 31. This is the eighth year for an overdose awareness event in Clinton County. The event was started by Jentry Mitchell and Cara Loddeke.
"We had 20 people come the first year we had the event," Mitchell said. "And it has just gotten bigger every year."
During the event, attendees were able to go around to different booths that were set up. The organizations involved in the event were Narcotics Anonymous, Illinois Recovery Center, Take Action Coalition of Clinton County, Memorial Hospital BJC, Sexual Assault and Family Emergencies and Chestnut Health Systems.
Cara Loddeke speaks during the Take Action Coalition of Clinton County overdose awareness event on Aug. 31 in Breese. There were two guest speakers and the band "Roaming Home" played during the event.
Gary Racine from Belleville was the first guest speaker. Loddeke said all recovering addicts are miracles, but Racine is a "miracle of miracles."
Racine said he started smoking weed when he was 8 years old. He started drinking alcohol when he was 12 years old. His drug abuse progressed through his teenage years until he went to the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) as a juvenile and spent four years there. He was 19 years old when he got out of the IDOC. He moved in with his mom before he was kicked out for selling and using drugs at her house. He moved into a hotel until he was 22 years old before he met a girl who later became the mother of his children. The whole relationship revolved around drugs.
Racine had periods in his life when he would get clean, but he would not stay clean for long. He was taking pills and later heroin. Heroin use led to IV drug use, which went on until he was in his late 30s. About a year ago, Racine went to Chestnut Health Systems and quit doing everything except smoking and selling weed. In July 2024, Racine's house was raided, which led him to going back to detox because he started to use again. He is on the NAT program, takes brixadi and he has been clean since July.
Gary Racine talks during the Take Action Coalition of Clinton County overdose awareness event on Aug. 31 in Breese. Loddeke said when Racine went back to Chestnut, he had relapsed and was taking brixadi, which has a component which won't let you overdose. Racine is nine months sober, which is the longest time in his life he has gone without doing drugs.
"He identified with drugs, his pride was drugs," Loddeke said. "To see him today not use anything is just amazing. He is a miracle."
Brett Nollman from Centralia stepped to the microphone and said going through drug rehabilitation is the hardest thing he has gone through.
"My hat goes off to everyone who is recovering and just keep on trying," Nollman said. "With me, it got worse before it got better. I thank God that I'm sober taking on these challenges, because it would be ugly if I wasn't."
Nollman said some of the meetings and groups might get redundant and mundane at times, but after a while he finally got it and it started sinking in.
"We are creatures of habit, so all we have to do is change the habit," Nollman said.
The other guest speaker was a person who only wanted to be referred to as Mike. Mike talked about his experiences finding recovery and being in recovery.
"I don't have a dramatic, made-for-Hollywood story about my using, my family life was pretty normal," Mike said. "For some reason, I always felt a little off."
The first time Mike got high was when he was 12 years old. He didn't use again until his middle teenage years. He didn't see it was affecting his life that badly and he had a "B" average in high school. Mike decided he wanted to go to college, which is where his addiction took off. He was kicked out of college after one year.
Mike still didn't think he had a drug problem when he returned home. He wanted to join the Air Force and passed the entrance exam. He was admitted into the Air Force and did well. He started buying and supplying his dorm with hash. There was a surprise urine test everyone had to take that he knew he couldn't pass. He had one last chance to see the colonel on the base to plead his case to stay in the Air Force. The night before he was to plead his case, he got drunk and showed up to the colonel's office two hours late. He was immediately kicked out of the Air Force.
"That is how my disease works, my disease does not care about deadlines," Mike said. "When I am active in my disease, there is no order in my life, everything is dictated by my compulsiveness to have drugs in my life."
Mike went to a Narcotics Anonymous meeting in St. Louis and said that meeting completely changed his life. From that meeting, he went to a 30-day inpatient treatment in St. Mary's Hospital. He started attending more Narcotics Anonymous meetings and what he found was that he wasn't the only person who felt the way he felt.
"I thought there was something broken with me and I had something that no one else had," Mike said. "What got me immediately was the readings. I heard those readings and I heard my stories in those readings, and I could not believe it."
At about 11 months clean, Mike had a relapse. He kept hanging out with the people he used with. He also got in a relationship with a girl who was in recovery meetings. They moved in together, and eventually they both started using drugs. Within a couple of weeks he was homeless and living in the back of his car.
"There was a voice in my head that saved my life," Mike said. "Knowing that my life was falling apart, knowing that I had to get a job and find a place to stay. The voice told me 'Just go to a meeting.'"
Mike went to a Narcotics Anonymous meeting and talked about his situation. Another person at the meeting offered a spare bedroom where Mike could stay. Mike said that person has been his friend for 37 years and he saved his life that night. A day later, another person at the meeting told Mike about a company that was looking for employees. Mike got a job at that company.
"As soon as I did that simple thing, going back to meetings, the rest of my life started falling back into place," Mike said.
Mike said recovery is awesome, but life is still challenging and still throws you lessons. And sometimes, his defects still act out in bad ways. He said in recovery he has had to learn how to live life on life's terms. He has not had the desire to use.
"My life is 1,000 times better than where it was," Mike said. "My life is full of things that I'm very grateful for and full of people that I love and that love me."
Loddeke ended the event with a prayer.
Take Action Coalition of Clinton County will have a Celebrate Life event on Sept. 21 at Northside Park in Breese.
