By Susan Bromley

Staff Writer

Within the space of two weeks last month, four people overdosed on heroin in Brandon Township. All of them were discovered in time and survived.

Last summer, Natalie Marie Perris overdosed on heroin, too, but she didn’t get a second chance. She was found Aug. 19 in her vehicle in a hospital parking lot, perhaps having tried to save herself. It was too late.

The 18-year-old, a former Goodrich High School student who had recently graduated from Penn Foster, died as a result of her addiction, leaving a grieving mother, three brothers, and other family and friends.

“There is a war going on and we’re losing,” said Diana Perris, who is forming the Natalie Marie Perris Foundation, named after her daughter, in an effort to prevent more losses like the one she has suffered. “Only 1 percent of those who go through a secular (drug rehabilitation program) are drug-free… Most programs are also for adults. There isn’t anything for teenagers and I hope to make a change so younger kids can have some kind of outreach.”

Diana Perris will be one of the featured speakers at “Communities Combating Addiction,” a free public workshop planned for 7-9 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 26, at St. Anne Catholic Church, 825 S. Ortonville Road.

Nick Klempp, program coordinator for the Holly Area Community Coalition, will also speak about 40 developmental assets that will help youth to avoid engaging in destructive, unhealthy behaviors. He confirms the low rate of recovery from heroin addiction.

“I just heard the other day that only 2 percent of those who go into treatment successfully complete treatment,” he said. “For me to look at it that way, prevention is the key— keep them from even starting, because there is only 2 percent success on the other side… It’s not talked a lot about and sadly, it’s not part of a lot of school curriculum anymore. They are really focusing on math and science and core subjects and it might even be budgetary reasons those life skill classes aren’t taught. Assets come in to play, you can tell a student over and over, don’t do drugs, but unless they have character built in, those refusal skills, resistance skills, unless they have those things, it’s really tough. If they feel rotten about themselves or they don’t have friends, they’re more likely to try drugs just to fit in.”

Natalie Perris had some devastating life blows leading up to her fall into a hole she could not escape. A homeschooled student and described by her family as an all-star athlete who began competing in gymnastics at the age of four and later played both soccer and football, Natalie’s life began to change dramatically when she was 12 and her father, who had suffered heart trouble, died.

“After her father passed is when the big turn happened in the family,” said Diana. “Instead of pressing in, there was the pressure of grieving, I was going to school, trying to make it as a single mom, acclimate them to going to school. What I would say is I needed someone to come into my house and take care of some things, get a game plan going at that time. Even under the ideal situation, if I would have pressed in, Jesus still had Judas, there are no guarantees. We all get faced with challenges and we have to look to the Lord to get through those challenges and do the best with what we have.”

Natalie attended Goodrich Middle School at this time, and later went on to Goodrich High School. Her mother described her as studious, but she struggled with depression and more deaths in the family followed, compounding her despair.

Diana believes her daughter began smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol when she was 16. A year later, when her daughter was 17, things worsened. Natalie was isolating herself in her room, not eating meals with the family, she was thin and her face was pasty white with dark circles under her eyes. She began using a suntanning cream to conceal her sickness.

Diana noticed spoons were missing and began searching her daughter’s room, finding alcohol swabs, tiny bits of cotton and razor blades. She confronted Natalie, who told her mother everything and the two sought help to try and avoid the common end to heroin addiction– jail or death.

Paula Goodman, an inmate caseworker for the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office and certified addictions counselor, said 82 percent of the inmates in the cognitive restructuring program at the Oakland County Jail have substance abuse issues. The program helps inmates look at the thought processes that got them into trouble.

Goodman will speak at the workshop about the effects of drugs on the brain. She also notes that research has shown that having dinner at the table and regular communication with children is one of the largest deterrents for drug and alcohol use, along with knowing a child’s friends.

“The biggest issue is we think that only parents who have done something wrong have kids that use alcohol and that is not true,” she said. “There are great parents whose children have turned to drugs and alcohol. There are all these kids in Brandon and there are some that use. We would love to think it doesn’t happen in our communities and it does. There have been studies recently that people who don’t attach, or if they are isolated, do drugs or alcohol to help them feel more connected. When we roll the dice for addiction, we don’t know who will get it.”

“I think the importance of my message is it affects everyone,” Goodman

continued. “The people I work with, tell me heroin allows them to escape from reality and that is what they are looking for. They want to escape, they don’t want to feel. One of the things we talk about (in the inmate program) is alternatives, what can I do differently, can I go for a run, can I read a good book. Feelings are OK. Some days you don’t feel great and that’s OK. Sometimes you need a nap and you don’t need to have an answer right now.”

Goodman will sometimes ask the women who are inmates what their biggest problem was the week before and they can’t think of it, even though at that time, it was a huge deal to them and something they couldn’t cope with. She reminds them that although it seems big in the moment, it will pass, and taking a walk or calling a friend, or playing with the dog, or even putting on music and dancing can change a mood.

An addict learns to rely on a drug to feel better in the moment instead of a healthy coping mechanism, said Goodman.

After Natalie made what would ultimately be the fatal mistake of trying heroin, she and her mother encountered many obstacles in trying to get help, including a lack of facilities to help minors, facilities that wouldn’t accept Diana’s insurance, and doctor resistance to changing medications that made Natalie ill.

“The problem today is we have double the amount of users than there are places to help them, and for teenagers, there really isn’t anything but the one place,” said Diana. “It’s a huge problem, they are seeing so much more now and calling it an epidemic, where they used to see one here and there, now it’s on a weekly basis… People say all the time, we don’t have that problem here, but it is in every area and zip code and schools don’t want to talk about it, because they would admit they have an issue.”

Diana, who is an advocate for Teen Challenge, a Christian-based substance abuse recovery program, believes that the only thing that could fix her daughter was looking to God to solve her problems.

“We had really good discussion on things she was seeking, and those are things God wants us to look for, if you are hurt or anxious, he wants us to look to him instead of things in the outside world,” said Diana. “Right before she passed, she really wanted help, she didn’t want to do it anymore, but the craving was so strong, she didn’t know what to do…She was clean for quite awhile before she passed, but wasn’t able to handle the cravings and gave in just a couple months before she passed… I know she is in heaven with her heavenly father and earthly father.”

Diana believes Natalie has an important job in heaven, while she will work here to help others. Diana plans to raise money through the foundation to send teens in need to the Teen Challenge in-patient program, the cost of which may otherwise be out of reach for some families.

Klempp hopes that not only parents, but all those wishing to fight and prevent drug abuse, will attend the workshop.

“Prevention starts at home, it’s true, but the more you’re involved in the community, the more likely it is your kid will not get involved in things that are unhealthy. Even if you don’t have children— this is your community, you want the kids in your community to succeed…. Schools are afraid to be stigmatized, but every school has an issue. It’s not in one area, it’s everywhere.”