STANTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Eight years ago, Jenelle Brewer was lost.
A mother looking for help for her daughter who had become consumed by drug addiction.
A search that turned up no answers.
“I was that mom that never thought my child could be addicted. In 2015 I had sat at my computer for 12 hours looking for someone who could help and nobody helped," Brewer said.
Brewer's story is just one example of how someone's struggle with addiction affects more than just them alone.
Loved ones feel the pain of what an addict is going through and it can be challenging to find help.
Brewer wanted to close that gap for services and resources.
That's when a solution appeared, what she describes as divine intervention, in the form of SPARK Ministries.
“Special people advocating recovery Kentucky," Brewer said.
"We wanted to have a starting point for families that someone could come to when their person fell into addiction, and we could help them in whatever direction that they need to go.”
SPARK works to advocate for Casey's Law which allows families to petition for their loved ones to get help with drug rehabilitation.
In 2017 alone, drug overdose deaths in Powell County were cut in half.
Progress law enforcement leaders like Powell County Judge Executive Ernie Barnes credits the work of Brewer and SPARK for helping make happen.
“I’ve been in law enforcement, fire service and a licensed paramedic for the past 37 years. You come up on a lot of people that need help or request help," Barnes said.
"The only thing I have to do is get on the phone with Jenelle and say I’ve got this person and she’ll say ‘where are you at’ or ‘bring them up to the house.’ That’s the type of person she is.”
Barnes has a connection to addiction beyond his line of work.
His son is on his own journey toward recovery.
As is Brewer's daughter, now on the other side of addiction.
Her child's success with recovery has Brewer excited as a mother and hopeful as a advocate that her story can inspire other families that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
“My passion with SPARK Ministries is to educate and bring awareness to families so they can understand that we’re no longer dealing with our loved one our friend but we are dealing with addiction," Brewer said.
“I want to be that parent, that mom, that grandmother to give other grandmothers hope, hope that my daughter made it out and so can theirs.”
If you want to learn more about SPARK Ministries, click here.
