As teenagers, sisters Becky and Ladonna Sanders were placed into foster care at the Tallapoosa County Girls Ranch where Rick and Kim Hagans, or “Mom” and “Pop” as they called them, were their houseparents — a relationship that would be Ladonna’s lifeline almost 30 years later.
Ladonna Sanders was one of 17 graduates at a ceremony held Aug. 4 at Purpose Baptist Church, Opelika, in Tuskegee Lee Baptist Association, by Harvest Evangelism, a Christ-centered Bible-based Christian recovery ministry for men and women with life-controlling problems located in Opelika.
The graduation celebrated a year of sobriety for each of the graduates — an important milestone in the long and difficult process of overcoming addiction.
Becky Sanders McGhee was there to celebrate with her sister and honor what God has done in her life.
“God worked a miracle in her. I got my sister back and her kids got their mother back,” Becky said.
Prior to coming to Hosanna Home, the women’s residential recovery program of Harvest Evangelism, Ladonna used drugs and alcohol to cope with anxiety and depression stemming from childhood neglect and abuse. Becky, the older sister, took a different path, finishing college and always trying to be a good influence on her younger siblings because, as Becky put it, “there were not a lot of people to be a good influence.”
Desperate for help
Ladonna’s choices caught up with her when she was arrested on drug charges in Memphis. A desperate Becky knew about Harvest Evangelism and the work her former houseparents were doing there.
“I called them and said my sister needed help,” Becky said. A week later, Ladonna moved into Hosanna Home and her life began to change.
All agree that the love and prayers that began three decades ago made all the difference.
“I used to wonder why we went through so many things, but the day my sister graduated, it changed me,” Becky said. “The love they had for us as kids, we came back to as adults. When I really needed them to be there for my sister, they were the first people I called. I don’t know if that would have happened if all the other stuff hadn’t happened.”
Now Ladonna is an intern at Hosanna Home, continuing to get her life back on track. She said she has a different outlook on life and is excited about her future.
So does Amanda, another recent graduate who is seeing God opening doors for her as she follows His plan for her life. Previous attempts to deal with her troubled past failed because she was “doing it all in my own strength.” Being part of Hosanna Home has given her a new start physically, emotionally and spiritually, and her message to new women coming in is simple: “If I can do it, you can do it.”
Rick Hagans said the message at Harvest Evangelism, which also runs His Place, a residential recovery center for men, is that a person can go to hell sober.
“We want to see them saved, sober and sanctified,” Hagans said. “In Christianity, we believe in new creation but the enemy always knows our weaknesses. Jacob wrestled with an angel. He got a new name and a future, but he had a limp. He wasn’t the same. We believe in deliverance, but the enemy will always tell addicts that drugs are the solution.”
Stories like Ladonna’s and Amanda’s motivate Hagans to persevere in addiction recovery ministry. But so do the stories of those who don’t make it. Not too long ago, a 24-year-old former resident at Hosanna Home who had been clean for a while overdosed on heroin at a party and died.
“When you see some of them make it, you say ‘Praise the Lord,’ but the battle is not over. Those who don’t make it give you courage and drive to keep moving forward because there are still a lot of hurting men and women out there,” Hagans said.
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Overdose deaths in U.S. continue to rise
In his more than 30 years of working with addicts in recovery, Rick Hagans has seen a lot of drug trends come and go. None have been as insidious as the opioid addiction ravaging Alabama and the nation.
“Meth (methamphetamines) and alcohol will pull you into prison and eventually into death,” Hagans said. “Opioids are killing people.”
Hagans said he has seen more heroin use and overdoses in the past three years than in the previous 30 years combined.
It’s a fast-growing epidemic because “lots of people start with pain pills” legally prescribed by a doctor — drugs like oxycodone (brand name Percoset), hydrocodone (brand name Lortab), codeine and morphine.
These opioid medications are generally safe when taken for a short time as prescribed, according to information published by the Alabama Department of Public Health, though all opioids affect a person’s heart rate, sleeping and breathing, slowing bodily functions to the point of death in overdose incidents.
Misusing medication
In addition, the euphoria opioid medications produce can lead to their misuse. Research suggests the misuse of prescription opioid pain medicine is a risk factor for the use of heroin, an illegal and highly dangerous street drug made from morphine, that enters the brain rapidly when snorted, smoked or injected.
Heroin use is increasing in the United States. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the number of Americans who report using heroin in the past year has been on the rise since 2007. In 2016, the number of people who reported using heroin for the first time was 170,000 people, nearly double the number of people in 2006 (90,000).
Deadlier drugs
The drugs on the street also are deadlier, as increasingly authorities are seeing strong synthetic opioids like fentanyl mixed with other illegal drugs — a deadly combination for users who don’t know what they are putting into their bodies.
The rise in illegal opioid use led to a record number of drug overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2017 — 72,000, according to preliminary estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC estimates approximately 800 people died because of drug overdose in Alabama in 2017 and a similar number will die in 2018.
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