PARENTS OF ADDICTS TRY TO END STIGMA

When Theresa Blasucci first realized her son's heroin addiction, the shame
overwhelmed her.

How had she failed her only child? How had she not known?

How would she be judged by her friends and neighbors?

It would be several months before Blasucci learned she wasn't the only one
asking those questions.

She formed HEAL - Help End Addiction through Love - a support network for
families struggling with teen drug abuse. During group meetings, she saw
other families shared the same loneliness and humiliation.

It pained her to see families be buried by not only their teens' problems,
but also by the degradation of having an addicted child.

"I'd love to see the stigma finally broken," she said. "I'm tired of
families feeling ashamed."

As part of her effort, Blasucci will participate in a panel discussion on
teen drug and alcohol abuse Wednesday. The forum, sponsored by Healthy
DuPage and the Daily Herald, will begin at 6 p.m. at Benedictine
University's Krasa Center, 2300 College Road in Lisle.

She intends to share her family's personal battles with drug addiction, as
well as her organization's efforts to educate the public.

"I just want to help people," Blasucci says. "I just want them to know they
have a place to go."

Blasucci knows what it's like to have no place to go. When her 16- year-old
son, Nick, overdosed on heroin in June 2001, she grappled with an
excruciating loneliness.

No one, she thought, could understand her turbulent emotions.

Her family had been in therapy at the Glen Oaks Adolescent Day Hospital in
Glen Ellyn. A social worker there recognized her isolation and suggested
Blasucci form a support group for parents of teen drug addicts.

At the time, Theresa and Rick Blasucci knew only one other household
struggling with a child's drug use. Their neighbors Diane and Danny
McKirchy had a son with a heroin problem, just like Nick.

The two families didn't know each other well, but they united in October
2001 out of desperation and concern for their children. They formed HEAL
and began meeting once a week.

They made Theresa Blasucci the president and Danny McKirchy vice president.

In the 15 months since HEAL's formation, the group has swelled to more than
40 families and bi-weekly meetings. A second support group has been formed
in Hoffman Estates, as well.

The families gather at least once a week to talk about their problems. They
offer each other encouragement, share advice and even have a few laughs.

"I knew there was a need for this," said Ginny Gemmell, the social worker
who urged Blasucci to form a support group. "I'm really proud of Theresa
and Danny. They're awesome people and work really hard."

The group's effort has included an aggressive education campaign, setting
it apart from most parental support groups in DuPage County. With Blasucci
leading the charge, they've taken their message to civic organizations,
schools and community access television.

There are, in fact, few speaking engagements Blasucci will turn down. She
has been on the radio, lobbied politicians and hosted seminars.

"When we started HEAL, I didn't think it would be all-consuming," Blasucci
said. "I didn't realize the depth of pain. I didn't realize how many people
were in the same situation as me."

It's demanding work for a 42-year-old legal secretary who has never held a
leadership position.

"I'm really a very shy person," she said. "But when it comes to drugs or
heroin, I'll talk to anyone, anytime. I want people to know that this is a
disease."

Her advocacy comes as Blasucci still fights to save her only child from
drug addiction. Nick, now 17, is currently serving time in the DuPage
County jail for robbery.

The teen, who is a heroin addict, has been admitted into the county's drug
court program and is awaiting a transfer to a rehabilitation facility.

His mother often wonders how she can help other families when her own has
so many problems. At times - particularly this past Christmas with Nick in
jail - she has found it difficult to even get out of bed in the morning.

"It has been a rough year," she said. "Sometimes I say, 'I can't even get
my own kid off drugs. What the (heck) am I doing trying to help others?'ae"

It's those moments when Blasucci realizes she needs HEAL as much as HEAL
needs her.

"It's a very loving group," Gemmel says. "It energizes people, even the
ones who are struggling with their own children."

Which, in the end, is what Blasucci envisioned when she started the group.

"It has been amazing," she said. "It amazes me how many wonderful people
God has sent in my direction. We've come so far."