Brazoria County Community Coalition, of the Bay Area Council on Drugs and Alcohol (BACODA), partnered with Serenity Light Recovery to host Kathy O’Keefe of Winning the Fight: WTF and screen the documentary, “Not Me.” The event was held at Serenity Light Recovery in Angleton on November 30. 

More than 30 people attended the meeting. Kathy O’Keefe of Winning the Fight: WTF presented the moving documentary about eight separate individuals that combine to tell a complete story of addiction, denial, and recovery. Dannielle Meyer of BACODA closed the meeting with an overview of opioid overdose reversal drug Naloxone.

“Every 13 minutes a person dies from a drug overdose.  Our 18-year-old son, Brett, became one of those statistics on March 20, 2010.  It was shortly thereafter that I started WTF – Winning The Fight!” said O’Keefe. “No one can go through the journey of substance use and abuse by themselves.  Our goal is to educate.  Addiction is a disease, not a moral failure. Our goal is to help communities realize that this happens to normal families all over America.  We cannot afford to continue to bury our families.  If no one speaks out, we cannot change the stigma and the judgment.”

“The opioid epidemic is impacting our community. Law enforcement and EMS are seeing it more frequently,” said Coalition Coordinator, Dannielle Meyer.  “Our goal is to educate the community to increase the likelihood that lives can be saved.”

For more information on opioid addiction and overdose response, visit www.bacoda.org or contact Brazoria County Community Coalition at brazoria.ccp@bacoda.org or 800-510-3111.

Left to Right: Dannielle Meyer, Coalition Coordinator, BACODA; Kathy O’Keefe, Winning the Fight: WTF; Heather Ogburn, CEO & Founder, Serenity Light Recovery; Annette Martinez, Clinical Director, Serenity Light Recovery.

Brazoria County Community Coalition is a project of the Bay Area Council on Drugs and Alcohol (BACODA).  BACODA is a community-based substance abuse prevention organization that provides sustained leadership and support for the Coalition. BACODA is a United Way Agency.