Displaying items by tag: Phillip Clute

"No more heroin."

 

Those words from the crowd of more than a thousand at Lock 3 Tuesday evening as family and friends of loved ones struggling with a heroin addiction called on city and state officials to offer help and additional resources in the city. 

 

"This is the hardest, and worst hit communities in the world in my eyes, and I see it everyday," said event organizer Billy Pfaff of Massachusetts. 

 

Pfaff launched the Facebook page "Heroin is killing my town" to fight against the heroin epidemic. His online videos has gained national attention. He encouraged people to come together and call on state and federal officials to make a change -- citing the lack of space available at treatment centers across the area. 

 

"There's no beds," said Pfaff. "We need to get beds and we need to get them right now." 

 

David Rutters of Akron was at the "Call to Action" event passing out flyers with the names and phone numbers of those who are in recovery and willing to talk to someone who is currently struggling with a heroin addiction. 

 

"If you don't have support, you're doomed," said Rutters. "You have to have a good support system. That's a big deal."  

 

Rutters said the event helped to paint a picture of the diversity of those affected by the heroin problem in Akron and surrounding communities. 

 

"Everybody here is here because they've probably lost somebody. We're not all here because we're just addicts." 

 

But it wasn't just the people making a statement at the event. Take for example a white Mustang that was sitting in the middle of the park.

 

"We sanded it off like four months ago and then had people that lost a loved one to heroin sign the car and then we'll clear coat it," said Phillip Clute with the Warriors Project in Canton, an organization that provides support for those battling an addiction. 

 

An online petition to request a state of emergency in Ohio has collected more than 5-thousand signatures.