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Support Group for family and friends of chemically dependent and addicted loved ones.
You are not Alone. Together We Recover.
| When: |
Every Thursday Evening |
| Where: |
Church of the Nazarene
1126 North Maple Street |
| Time: |
7:00 p.m. |
For more information email circleofsupport@HERE4HOPE.org
or visit the Circle of Support website, www.circleofsupport.embarqspace.com
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From Enabling to Empowering: Mother Develops Family Substance Abuse Support
Like a mother bear protecting her cubs, Kim Heminger has hunkered down to save her child from heroin, opiate and
other drug abuse and she wants to help other families defend their young as well. She’s learning everything she
can about drug addiction, recovery, and prevention and is facilitating a support group to share her knowledge and
experiences, hope and encouragement with other interested families. Her Circle of Support group for parents meets
at 7 PM on the first and third Thursdays of the month at Riversong Worship Center at 339 North Maple Street in
Marysville.
Heminger – a member of Honda’s New Model Purchasing staff -- is neither an alcohol or other drug treatment professional
nor in recovery for addiction herself. However, she has experienced the nightmare of watching her son’s life was
destroyed by substance abuse. And she’s not about to let it hurt her family any more.
Heminger described going through periods of disbelief and anger, making excuses for him and stages parents typically
pass through before acceptance. Then she dried her tears and moved from enabling to empowerment.
What finally prompted her to launch the Circle of Support after months of thinking and praying about it? It was
the power of other parents. When she attended the Town Hall Meeting on heroin and opiates last April, Heminger
found herself seated next to a stranger who would change her life – Erin Wortman.
“I felt an immediate connection with Erin,” said Heminger. “She was exactly in the same place I had been emotionally.
However, she was about five months behind me in her journey of trying to help a child with addiction. I told Erin
I was thinking of starting a support group and she really encouraged me to do it. I decided at that meeting I had
to get it going right away.”
According to Wortman, “I sat in the front row sharing my horror story with a huge room of people and I felt like
I had the support of someone who really knew what I was going through. Now Kim is my rock. And I’m her rock.”
And Wortman is a faithful participant in the Circle of Support Group’s twice-monthly meetings, bringing coffee
and helping Heminger haul in her extensive collection of recovery books. This lending library provides comfort,
direction and the understanding that family members are not to blame for addiction but that they can be part of
the solution.
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Kim Heminger (left) and Erin Wortman display some of Heminger's books she lends to families
looking for support.
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The Circle of Support Group is just the first of Heminger’s recovery projects. She is also planning several prison
outreach services for people who are incarcerated on substance-related charges. Heminger is also working with area
physicians, churches and Consolidated Care, Inc. to publicize her parent support services. She is also participating
in the new Alcohol and Drug Abuse Task Force that is part of the local Here4Hope community service group. Here4Hope
meets at 6 PM on the second Monday of each month at the Community Services Building at 940 London Avenue in Marysville.
These meetings are also open to anyone interested in helping address the issues of alcohol and drug abuse and suicide
prevention, she noted.
“I also want to start a support group for young people who are trying to stay drug-free,” Heminger continued. “They
really can’t associate with their old friends who are still using if they want to stay clean. And it’s difficult
because young people struggling to stay clean find they are not accepted by some other groups of kids at school
either. They need support to develop a new purpose and strength in the fellowship of other young people in recovery.”
Heminger said she knows five or six young female students who are interested in a recovery support group because
they see a value in women-specific services. She noted that they may eventually include the girls’ mothers if the
group so chooses. And she is open to all ideas from anyone who wants to provide input. Heminger said she does not
consider herself an expert – just a mom who has “been there” and wants to help others.
For more information on the Circle of Support Group or other plans, visit Here4Hope.org or contact Heminger directly
at circleofsupport@here4hope.org. |
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