By Jillian Risberg 

Across the state, the Hope One Initiative brings lifesaving resources to those struggling with drug use and addiction. Parent to Parent Addiction Services can now take their services on the road to prevent overdoses and death in Warren County. 

“This van personally and professionally means the world to us as we both as parents had children who suffered from substance use and wished we had more information and resources and knowledge,” says co-director, Helen Carey.  

“We felt this van and its outreach will really help so many who have nowhere to turn or have no social media or way of getting to an office for help. Having the walk up and going straight to treatment is a game-changer and we hope to save many lives but even just one life would be so worth it”

They are offering HOPE because they say recovery can and does happen. 

According to Warren County Sheriff James McDonald, Sr., the Hope One Recovery Van came to be because of the hard work and dedication of two individuals, and the generosity of several business leaders and members of the Warren County Community.

For one of those individuals, Douglas Steinhardt, Esq., former Mayor of Lopatcong, his greatest hope is the same hope he has for the Parent to Parent van: that we never need it. 

“Sadly, we know that’s not the case, not yet anyway and maybe not ever,” Steinhardt says.  “But, in the meantime, it’s my hope that the Task Force (the Warren County Addiction Awareness Task Force) continues to be an effective instrument in the tool box of resources needed to educate and provide addiction and mental health services in Warren County.”

Of the van, Commissioner Jason Sarnoski (the other individual) agrees, “Having a mobile resource like this is critical. (It) will help break down one more barrier to recovery.”

Parent to Parent was able to purchase the van with the assistance of Smith Motors Ford and a major foundation, grant, donations and fundraising.   

The van will allow them to provide urgently needed recovery services to those most vulnerable, homeless or in rural areas, according to Carey and co-director, Debi Natale, who added that total overdose deaths for 2020 were 36, up from the 2019 total of 20.

The increasing number of overdose deaths in Warren County prompted the Commissioner and Steinhardt to start the Task Force.

“I know many close friends and family that also experienced tragedy due to overdoses and I felt we could do more as a County to prevent these deaths,” says Sarnoski.  

This all hits close to home for Steinhardt, who continues to fight the drug war. 

“I lost my cousin to addiction and suicide. He never had a chance to raise a family or see my wife and me raise mine.” 

Families across Warren County and around the State are ravaged by the scourge of addiction.

“As long as I have the ability to help save one person or one family from the clutches of addiction or stigma of seeking mental health services, I will,” he says. 

Carey and Natale have devoted their lives to saving others and are regularly out there pounding the streets. They understand — Carey’s son Billy tragically passed away from an accidental overdose in 2013, he had just turned 20; Natale’s son has been substance free for more than 8 1/2 years. 

“This van personally and professionally means the world to us as we both as parents had children who suffered from substance use and wished we had more information and resources and knowledge,” says Carey.  

“We felt this van and its outreach will really help so many who have nowhere to turn or have no social media or way of getting to an office for help. Having the walk up and going straight to treatment is a game-changer and we hope to save many lives but even just one life would be so worth it.”

“I have been able to witness both personally and professionally lives lost or destroyed through addiction,” says McDonald, Sr. “This Van will allow their program to go where they are needed most throughout the County and provide immediate placement in a treatment facility for those seeking help. The Warren County Sheriff’s Office, Warren County Prosecutor’s Office, and Warren County Police Chiefs Association support their efforts.”

When it comes to the war on drugs, Sarnoski says the situation in Warren County has become very critical. 

“Narcan deployments are far too frequent,” he says. “The drugs keep getting more potent and dangerous and people need resources to combat this epidemic. Organizing on every level of government is critical to fighting this battle.”

The lives of his family, friends and every resident of Warren County are what drives the Commissioner. 

“We recently began an Overdose Fatality Review Team with top level stakeholders to analyze deaths in Warren County and how they could have been prevented,” says Sarnoski. “This will help us make policy decisions that will better help us fight this battle in the future.”

Steinhardt was extremely proud to join Carey, Natale and the hard working folks at Parent to Parent to dedicate their new service van.

“These wonderful women turned their personal tragedies into community triumph and we owe them a debt of gratitude,” the attorney says.