Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow has contributed $5,000 to the Heroin Epidemic Relief Organization, or HERO, a nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing the opioid epidemic in our communities. HERO was founded by fathers John Roberts and Brian Kirk, whose sons were tragically taken from them while battling heroin addiction.
“When the unthinkable happened to these fathers, they turned their personal tragedy into avocation of helping others through education, counseling, and support services to help save the lives of other children,” Glasgow said. “A walk through the HERO ‘Hidden in Plain Sight’ trailer, set up like a teenager’s bedroom and demonstrating through examples the many places illicit drugs can be hidden, is a stark reminder of the easy accessibility of dangerous drugs and the creativity of users of any age in hiding them. Sadly, containers for everyday items, such as deodorant and water bottles, are counterfeited to have hiding places for drugs and marketed on- line.”
More than one million people have died from drug overdoses since 1999 – and more than 75 percent of these deaths involved an opioid. Synthetic opioids, such as deadly fentanyl, account for the vast majority of these deaths. In 2020, Illinois ranked 24th nationwide in the drug overdose death rate, at 28.1 deaths per 100,000 residents. The drug overdose death rate in Illinois rose 28 percent from 2019 to 2020.
“Every day, we work with families who have children struggling with substance use disorders and those who have lost loved ones in the opioid epidemic,” Roberts said. “As opioids continue to ravage families and communities, HERO will continue to provide education and support to combat what our organization recognized years ago as a public health epidemic. We are grateful to State’s Attorney Glasgow for his ongoing support and recognition of the ongoing need for support systems in our community in the ongoing battle against illicit and dangerous drugs. ”In 2023, State’s Attorney Glasgow sought out and found the office space located at 1 Doris Avenue in Joliet now used by HERO to have a physical presence in the community. Glasgow previously assisted HERO with the cost of purchasing the “Hidden in Plain Sight Trailer” that shows parents where teenagers commonly hide drugs in their own homes. He also joined with local businessman Terry D’Arcy to provide the SUV that pulls the trailer throughout the community.
“Thanks to the generosity of the building’s owner Tim Tibbet, HERO now has a permanent space in which to operate and continue to expand its services,” Glasgow said. “I look forward to working with John Roberts to put a second trailer in the rotation to reach as many parents as possible as we continue working to stop the scourge of opioids and deadly fentanyl.”
HERO will be hosting a ribbon cutting and open house with various activities and the presence of the Drug Enforcement Agency’s One Pill Can Kill vehicle on June 1 from 2pm to 6pm. The recent $5,000 donation brings the financial contributions the State’s Attorney has provided HERO to more than $20,000. “All contributions were funded with drug asset money seized from dealers and traffickers selling illegal narcotics in Will County, without the use of any taxpayer dollars,” Glasgow added.