Real Life Ministries hosts community drug forum

Pastor Rick Sturgill, of Real Life Ministries, will host a forum with Ironton mayor Katrina Keith, common pleas court judge Andy Ballard, and county prosecutor Brigham Anderson at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, at the church, 1717 Reynolds Street in Ironton.

Unlike the last event that Sturgill organized, which focused on the testimony of recovered addicts and celebration of overcoming addiction, this event will be more of a roundtable-type event. Keith, Ballard and Anderson will discuss the problems our community faces, take questions, and hear criticism and feedback about how to improve drug intervention, treatment and recovery.

“This Wednesday these leaders will be at our church to talk to our recovery folks about working on some real solutions to the current drug epidemic we are facing,” Sturgill said. “It will be an open forum meeting, (where) those in attendance will be able to address their concerns and get questions answered.”

Based on Sturgill’s comments, his congregation could be a good group to solicit feedback from when it comes to what does and doesn’t work in recovery.

“We are essentially a recovery group that started a church,” Sturgill explained. After he lost his 19 year-old son to a heroin overdose, Sturgill began ministering to addicts, and the church was born two years ago.

Since opening, he said, they’ve had nearly 100 individuals pass through their recovery program, a faith-based 12-step recovery program. Sturgill said that, in addition to their own program, they also work with other recovery organizations like Mended Reeds, Sprectrum, Riverside Recovery Services, and The Focus Group, so that their clients can attend their meetings. They also have a new Narcotics Anonymous meeting starting on Saturdays, at 7 p.m.

Sturgill said that it was refreshing to see public officials so engaged, and open to dialogue with those in recovery, to try to find new and better ways of addressing the addiction problems our communities face.

“I’m very thankful to have such leaders in our county, willing to take on this great, overwhelming drug epidemic our county, and nation, is facing,” Sturgill said.