September 23, 2015 Features mcccagora.com • The Agora | 5

Fighting Heroin

A group of former addicts offer 12 steps to recovery at two Monroe locations

By Emily LortonAgora staff

Seven former heroin addicts have started Heroin Anonymous meetings at two locations in Monroe County.

They have come together to help current addicts learn to live sober.

“Heroin Anonymous is a place where someone can go so they don’t feel alone,” said Jeremy, one of the organizers, who asked that his last name not be included.

According to Jeremy, the meetings provide a place for addicts to relate to one another, giving them a sense of hope.

When addicts see fellow users overcome the same situation, it gives them hope that they can overcome it also, he said.

The Heroin Anonymous organizers also host ac-tivities outside of the meetings.

This allows the addicts to feel a sense of support and gets them away from being around old friends.

It shows them they do not need their old habits to have a good time, said Nikki, another of the organiz-ers, who are referred to as chairpersons.

“I need to keep connected,” Nikki said. “Someone reached out to help me so I feel like it’s my respon-sibility to help someone else; it allows me to give back.”

Someone can get addicted to substances by simply feeling bad about themselves, Jeremy said.

Having something wrong on the inside leads them to turn to a substance to try to get away from those negative feelings.

“Choosing to use was a bad decision. Getting started was mainly peer pressure, then after that it became a habit and I couldn’t stop,” Ronnie, a for-mer heroin user, said.

He said he knew he had hit rock bottom when he lost his car and job, and went to jail for six months.

Ronnie said he realized that he needed help stop-ping, and he could not do it alone.

“Jeremy has been the most influential person throughout my journey,” Ronnie said.

The hardest part of the program for him was writ-ing everything down on paper.

He knew that going back to his old habits would not help anything; he wanted to live a more positive life.

Heroin Anonymous uses the “Guide to the Twelve Steps” in its meetings.

The goal is to get through the steps as quickly as possible.

“The faster they get through it, the faster they get sober,” Nikki said.

Step one is being able to admit that they have no power over the addiction.

Without admission of defeat, there is little desire to complete the remaining steps.

According to Jeremy, the addicts must come to be-lieve that there is a higher power.

Heroin Anonymous is not a spiritual program. However, they must find a power higher than them-selves to trust in, Nikki said.

This power could be called anything they wish, such as God, Buddha, or the Universe.

“I turned to God to let him tell me how to live my life. I do His will, not my will,” Jeremy said.

Another step taken in the beginning of the program is to pick a sponsor, so the addict has someone to contact for support immediately.

“A sponsor is someone who goes through the pro-cess with the addict,” Nikki said.

Being a sponsor means providing support

through personal contact and phone calls, help-ing track their process, and meeting their men-tees every week.

“An important part of the program is for the addict to reflect on his or her day at the end of the night, “Jeremy said.

They should look back and recall the moments where they may have lied, harmed, or wronged another individual. After doing this, they should begin to amend their mistakes.

Making amends helps the addicts feel better and helps them become their best self, according to Nikki.

Steps 10, 11, and 12, are the last steps of the program.

Former addicts must continue doing these steps to help them stay sober.

These three steps are basically constant reflec-tion of wrongdoings throughout the day, believ-ing in the higher power to work through them, and to help others suffering from the same dis-ease.

Once a former addict is sober, there are many ways they can continue to stay sober.

“A former addict can become involved in Her-oin Anonymous as a chairperson or sponsor,” Nikki said.

There are six sober living houses in Monroe County.

In these houses, heroin users can live with oth-ers who are also sober and plan to stay that way.

These homes give the former addicts rules and guidelines to follow, such as a curfew and drug testing, to make sure they are staying sober, Jer-emy said.

Nikki said heroin strikes people from all walks of life.

“It’s important to know that addiction doesn’t have a face, this disease can affect anyone, even successful people,” she said.

She feels it is important for addicts to seek help on their own.

The Heroin Anonymous meetings are not ad-vertised. If a person wants to fight their addic-tion, they will seek out help.

The MCCC Admissions Office does not offer drug counseling.

If a student is suffering from drug or substance abuse, the counselors refer the student to outside agencies to receive help, according to Mark Hall, director of Admissions and Guidance Services.

Step 1: We admitted we were powerless over heroin – that our lives had become unmanageable. Step 2: We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

Step 3: We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. Step 4: We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. Step 5: We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. Step 6: We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. Step 7: We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

Step 8: We made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all. Step 9: We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. Step 10: We continued to take personal inventory and when were wrong promptly admitted it. Step 11: We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. Step 12: Having a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to heroin addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Meeting locationsThe Heroin Anonymous meetings

are held at the Salvation Army Harbor Light Center, 3250 N. Monroe St., Monroe, at 7 p.m. Sundays, and at Oaks of Righteousness Christian Church, 1018 E 2nd St, Monroe, at 4 p.m. Saturdays.

Guide to the Twelve Steps

By Julia TonioloAgora staff

Caitlyn Jenner’s transition this year has brought positive publicity to the transgender community.

The former Olympian began her tran-sition with her interview as Bruce Jenner with Diane Sawyer on April 24, talking about gender identity.

This was her last interview as Bruce Jenner.

Since the interview Caitlyn debuted her transition in the July issue of Vanity Fair, titled “Call me Cait.”

Jenner’s reality television series pre-miered July 26. It gives viewers a first-hand look into her life as a transgender woman as she seeks her “new normal.”

After the Diane Sawyer interview, two other transgender television shows premiered — “Transparent” and “I Am Jazz. “

Caitlyn Jenner’s transition has become the voice of the transgender community and helped spread awareness.

Former MCCC student Zander Morin, 18, formerly known as Samantha Morin, began his transition in March. Morin says Jenner’s transition has helped the transgender community.

“I got to see people’s responses to her transition and it helps because she’s fa-mous and everyone knows about it now, whether they like it or not.

“I don’t have to explain it to people now,” Morin said.

MCCC Gay-Straight Alliance mem-bers Ally Schyllander and Gabriel Trejo

talked about Jenner’s role in the trans-gender community.

“Her transition had a huge impact on members of the transgender community and even in Monroe County,” Trejo said.

“I think that Caitlyn Jenner has defi-nitely become the face of the transgender community as of right now. I think she will not only effect the transgender com-munity, but also the LGBT.”

“I think that before Caitlyn’s transi-

tion, the community didn’t really have a face and they were like the forgotten part of the LGBT,” Schyllander said.

Caitlyn Jenner’s transition appears to have made people more accepting of the transgender community. Statistics have shown exceptionally high suicide rates, thought most likely to be because of the criticism towards the transgender com-munity.

MCCC GSA members talked about the importance of spreading awareness.

“I think this is very important for peo-ple who may be struggling with this per-sonally to be able to go ahead to transi-tions themselves,” Schyllander said.

“I think it’s very important to spread awareness because without that we have ignorance,” Trejo said.

Before Jenner’s transition, the trans-gender community didn’t have much spotlight in the media. Morin said he learned about the transgender commu-nity through a research paper.

“Last fall, I did a research paper on the transgender community and I don’t know if I started it because I thought I was transgender at the time, but the more I looked into it, the more I realized it was me,” Morin said.

Through all the positive publicity, there were many negative comments to-ward Jenner’s transition, including some people who said the Olympic medals should be taken away from her.

“At that point in her life, she identified as a man,” Trejo said. “I don’t think it’s fair for people to be able to take those away from her because regardless she earned them.”

The media coverage of the issue will surely help many who struggle with gen-der identity, Schyllander said.

“The role that she’s playing right now is very crucial because no celebrity has transitioned as publicly as her.”

Jenner’s transition inspires students

Agora photo by Julio Toniolo

Former MCCC student Zander Morin says Jenner’s transition has helped him explain the transgender process.

Caitlyn Jenner, shown here in a dramatic, full-length dress, left her life as Bruce Jenner behind following an interview with Diane Sawyer on April 24. During her life as Bruce, Jenner was heralded as the world’s greatest athlete, winner of the decathlon at the 1976 Olympics and world record holder in the event.

Famous athlete becomes face of transgender movement