Four town halls are scheduled over the next two weeks by the Coalition for Healthy and Safe Communities.
Sharon Heller knows more about heroin addiction than she would care to.
The former Belvidere councilwoman's daughter is in prison because of heroin. So is Heller's nephew.
"I'm very familiar with this community and a wide range of my daughter's friends who have addiction problems," Heller said.
She hopes members of the community attend a series of town hall meetings intended to shine a spotlight on the drug epidemic.
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Run by the Coalition for Healthy and Safe Communities, the first of four town hall meetings is Tuesday night at the Belvidere Fire Hall. Scheduled to speak are Warren County Prosecutor Richard Burke; Belvidere Mayor Linda Stettler; Patrolman Matt Frauen; school, hospital and drug rehabilitation officials and parents of addicts.
The coalition is composed of community stakeholders including the prosecutor's office, police, St. Luke's Health Network, Community Prevention Resources and the county health department.
Heller said she's fed up with the criminal justice and healthcare systems, neither of which do enough to get addicts clean.
"All they're doing is passing them around between jails," Heller said. "We have overcrowded jails because of all these drug addicts. Somebody has to wake up and realize what they're doing is not working."
IF YOU GO
Meetings are scheduled at 6:30 p.m. at these dates and places:
- Tuesday, Sept. 29 at the Belvidere Fire Hall, 689 Water St.
- Thursday, Oct. 1 at St. Luke's Hospital, 185 Roseberry St., Phillipsburg
- Tuesday, Oct. 6 at Trinity Methodist Church, 213 Main St., Hackettstown
- Thursday, Oct. 8 at Warren County Community College, 475 Route 57 West
For more information, call Kim Spangenberg at 908-223-1985 ext. 305.
Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.
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