DuPage County is the home to the second most deaths attributed to heroin overdoses, only next to Cook County.

With the statistics growing, Dennis Emano, mental health counselor at COD knew it was important to shine the light and make a change beginning here on campus.

To raise awareness during National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, and to provide students with advice and guidance, Emano and faculty began substance abuse awareness workshops.

To begin the three events open to students, Emano invited Nick Gore, a recovered heroin addict from Bartlett, who transformed his life.

“I’ve had a few students recently who’ve been struggling with heroin addiction, as well as students affected by heroin due to loved ones with addiction or who have died due to overdose,” said Emano. “The death rate in DuPage County is outrageously high.  For these reasons, it was important to raise awareness on heroin and opioid addiction.  I invited Nick Gore to speak because I think many of our students would be able to identify with his background.  I want students to know that it could happen to anyone.”

Gore began his road of addiction with painkillers when he had kidney stones. From prescription pills, he moved onto heroin.

The road was long and turbulent, Gore regularly speaks to students about the dangers of heroin.

“Once I put heroin in my body, I lost the power of choice,” Gore told the Daily Herald.

Heroin is not the only danger facing the community. Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACOA) is the next event on Sept. 26, providing an outlet for community members to discuss how alcoholism has affected their families.

A panel of ACOA will share personal testimonies on how their lives have been changed and their ways of coping. Students are able to get an inside look into the life of a child of an addict. Support materials will be provided.

Connecting National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month to our campus, the third event on Oct. 19 is titled: “Current Trends in Alcohol and Substance Abuse on the College Campus.”

Julie Trytek, instructor in human services will be discussing how to drink responsibly and ways to reduce harm when in contact with alcohol and other substances.