Story by Bryant Smith
Case Western Reserve University Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences in Cleveland recently honored Deborah A. Hill with the 2017 Distinguished Alumnus Award at an elaborate reception.
Allegheny West Conference
Story by Visitor Staff
The Ohio branch of Faith in Public Life recently recognized Jason Ridley, Youth director for the Allegheny West Conference, as the Faith Leader of the Year.
Story by Bryant Smith
Sim Fryson, an Allegheny West Conference Shiloh church member in Huntington, W.Va., recently experienced a miracle driving on a busy highway in Charleston, W.Va. He saw a woman standing on the side of the road with a baby in her arms, frantically trying to flag someone down. Fryson stopped, saw that the child was not breathing and administered CPR. Thanks to his quick action, the child survived.
The police department in Fryson’s hometown of Charleston honored him, and the local TV station ran the story, naming him a “Hometown Hero.” When presented with an award, Fryson responded, “The Lord blessed me to be at the right place at the right time, so I give Him all the credit for that.”
Story by Tamaria L. Kulemeka
Norman Carter, a member of Allegheny West Conference’s Temple Emmanuel in Youngstown, Ohio, is also on the frontlines of the drug crisis.
“[The opioid crisis] is a beast that’s been unleashed. … In order to stop it, you have to stop drugs, and we know that is not going to happen. I think that all we can do is be prepared to provide services to those in need,” says Carter, who kicked his crack cocaine habit nearly eight years ago, and three years ago founded the Carter House, a transitional residential program in Youngstown.
Story by Tamaria L. Kulemeka
The opioid and heroin epidemic is crippling communities across the nation, leaving health officials and providers, coroners, law enforcement and churches scrambling to respond to and combat this widespread crisis.
Bonnie Franckowiak, professor and coordinator of the Master of Science Nursing Program at Washington Adventist University in Takoma Park, Md., says, “The use of opioids in this country is staggering. It’s huge, and it’s growing all the time; we don’t seem to have a handle on it at all,” she says. “In 2012, 259 million prescriptions were written for opioids, which is enough to give every American adult their own pill box.”