Pubdate: Tue, 06 May 2014
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
Copyright: 2014 Journal Sentinel Inc.
Contact: http://www.jsonline.com/general/30627794.html
Website: http://www.jsonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/265
Author: Ashley Luthern

THOSE TOUCHED BY ADDICTION RAPPEL DOWN HOTEL TO SUPPORT SHATTERPROOF

Wearing a helmet and clipped onto rappelling lines, 22-year-old Alina 
Maki-Guzlecki teetered on the edge of a high-rise hotel in downtown Milwaukee.

She turned her back to the ground and inched to the edge before 
rappelling down 20 stories to the base of the Hyatt Regency Milwaukee 
on Kilbourn Ave.

"Exhaustion, I'm not going to lie," she said of how she felt reaching 
the bottom. "It was pretty nerve-wracking, but it was exciting."

She joined more than 50 people on Tuesday who rappelled down the 
hotel's exterior. The event was a fundraiser for Shatterproof, a 
national nonprofit organization that advocates for addiction 
treatment and tries to end the stigma of addiction.

Maki-Guzlecki is a recovering heroin addict and recently returned to 
Milwaukee after receiving treatment at a halfway house in Arizona. 
She had been using heroin for the past two years and abusing 
prescription pills before that.

"You can't do it on your own," she said of recovery. "Everyone needs 
a solid support system, people who keep you wanting to be sober."

Many of those who rappelled had personal stories of how addiction 
affected them.

Kelsey Barnowsky, 25, of Manitowoc, who rappelled with her friend, 
Keeley Wright, 29 of Fox Point, recalled how a high school classmate 
died of a heroin overdose just days before her 21st birthday.

"I think raising awareness is so important," Barnowsky said.

Heightened awareness was a key goal of Tuesday's event, one of 20 
that will take place around the country this year, Shatterproof's 
founder Gary Mendell said.

Mendell founded HEI Hotels and Resorts where he oversaw a portfolio 
of 42 hotels valued at $2.8 billion. He walked away from that to 
found Shatterproof, originally known as Brian's Wish, with a personal 
commitment of $5 million.

Mendell's son Brian Mendell was in and out of treatment for 
marijuana, prescription drug and heroin addictions over seven years. 
His son died October 2011 at the age of 25 after being sober for 13 months.

"Most tragically he didn't die specifically to an overdose, he took 
his life," Mendell said Tuesday. "He took his life because of what he 
felt every morning, the shame he had when he opened his eyes and felt 
like an outcast and a burden to society."

Shatterproof aims to be for addiction what the American Cancer 
Society is for cancer, said Mendell, a member of the Clinton Health 
Matters Initiative.

Shatterproof is undertaking four initiatives this year:

The Shatterproof Challenge, a series of rappelling events including 
the one Tuesday in Milwaukee, to raise awareness and funding for the 
organization.

Shatterproof also will launch the first phase of a comprehensive 
resource center about addiction prevention, treatment and recovery at 
its website on Oct. 1.

It is advocating in states for an addiction screening and 
intervention program for teens that is reimbursed by health insurance.

Shatterproof also is working to reduce deaths related to opiate 
overdoses by advocating for good Samaritan laws, educating the public 
about those law and increasing access to naloxone, a drug that can 
reverse the effects of an opiate overdose.

Last month, Gov. Scott Walker signed a package of bills, dubbed 
Heroin Opiate Prevention and Education, or HOPE, that included some 
of those provisions.

Among the measures was a law that gives people immunity from criminal 
prosecution for drug possession if they bring a fellow drug user to 
an emergency room or call 911 because they believe the person is 
suffering from an overdose.

Another law also allowed any first responder to administer naloxone, 
also known by its brand name Narcan, if they are trained.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom