Small-town America isn’t what it used to be.
—-
Next to the Ohio River sits a small, depressed town where a drug is easier to find than a well-paying job.
As a little girl growing up here, our neighborhood used to come alive at night with children carrying flashlights playing Spotlight Tag. Kids don’t play this game at night anymore. Doors are locked, strangers don’t say “hello” like they used to. If you are known to have prescriptions, you are a target to get robbed. The small town is currently under siege and afraid.
My town has a real name. It has a local university where football players become NFL stars winning Super Bowl rings. Another name has been given to my home. You won’t find it on a map. I live in a place nicknamed “Moneyton.”
In the Appalachian foothills, coal was the primary job provider. Trains are not rumbling down our tracks as often as they once did. Our land is being stripped bare of its natural resources, and there is a new way to live. There is a pipeline running from Detroit to my home. The highway is a constant supply of heroin, crack, and death.
I was born into these hills, and I will be buried in them. I married a man who was also bred, and born, into what used to be a nice place to live. There are two ways out of Moneyton: pack your bags and leave, or die here. There is no real quality to life.
I want better. There has to be a better way to live, a better place.
Addiction doesn’t discriminate. Many years ago, I sought help through a local mental health center. The therapy I received came in the form of pills. It would come to be known in our region as “Hillbilly Crack.” I spent three years suffocating in addiction’s quicksand.
Not caring, in my foggy world, I battled my husband. And in return, he watched me snort reason after reason. Four hundred reasons were supplied to me every three months masked in an orange prescription bottle. While I cut off the plastic straw and sucked a burning sensation into my nostrils, I never noticed the poverty around me. I couldn’t see the hurricane brewing in my city.
The hurricane has landed.
Legislature has cracked down on legal pharmaceuticals making them more expensive, and harder to get. Today, once legal addicts turn to illegal methods. They strap rubber ties around their arms. They insert needles filled with a cheaper, more potent drug called heroin. And, many are dying. Death doesn’t know any age. It doesn’t care if you came from a good home. Death is leaving families without their sons and daughters. Death is here.
It’s been seven years since I snorted my last pill. Yet, I still see addiction. Through my sober eyesight, addiction is still in my home. It is across the street, and it comes out of the alley next to my house.
I see it in my neighbor who rents the apartment across the street. Her children are only allowed to play on a small balcony. She screams at them to “shut the fuck up” as she asks her dealer how much the bag costs. I watch as the crackhead creeps out of the alley and digs furiously through the bushes for his scrap fix.
A hooker comes out of that same alley with strung out eyes. She is hoping to make enough money to score the medicine in order to also stop feeling. Sometimes, I watch as men follow a few feet behind her as she hangs her head staring at the old brick streets. Everybody is seeking a fix.
I want a fix too. I want to self medicate again. I want to not see the town also dying in despair. I want a better life.
Since I stopped my addiction I find myself asking day after day, year after year, one question to my husband. I’ve begged a repetitive plea.
“When can we head south? I want to smell salt water instead of coal dust. I want something better for our family.”
My mountains are my home. The hills hide the misfortunes as our loved ones are overdosing. They are hiding our pain away from the rest of the nation. We have a plague. My town is in a drug-riddled epidemic. Drugs and coal dust won’t bury me, because my mountains gave me fortitude. I spent three years forgetting an abusive childhood by snorting pills. Today, right now in this moment, is my ribbon bound, gift-wrapped present. The decisions my husband and I make will be our child’s future. They will be our future.
My son looks to the clock and says, “tick-tock, tick-tock.” How much time do we lose before we learn to live? Before the tick goes into the tock?
“Hickory, dickory, dock.
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one,
The mouse ran down,
Hickory, dickory, dock.”
The Black Death caused rats to run. The clock is past one. Hickory, dickory, dock.
Mice are running down a clock away from a plague in my town. Our time is dire and essential. I realize I have two options, to run or die. Those will not be my son’s options. He deserves better. There is no money to run right now. I’m too stubborn to die.
I can write. I can tell you my story, a town’s story.
Write a better tomorrow for my baby, for myself. Write for my town lost in a seemingly hopeless battle. I write for those two little kids playing on the balcony across the street, for the hooker and the crackhead coming out the alley each day. There is the option to stand and fight as my pen is a powerful sword.
To Huntington, there is a better life, we can fight together.
—
RSVP for Weekly Calls on The Disposability of Men
—
We are proud of our SOCIAL INTEREST GROUPS—WEEKLY PHONE CALLS to help discuss and help solve some of the most difficult challenges the world has today. Calls are for Members Only (although you can join the first call for free). Not yet a member of The Good Men Project? Join now!
—
What Now? Participate. Take Action. Join The Good Men Project Community.
The $50 Platinum Level is an ALL-ACCESS PASS—join as many groups and classes as you want for the entire year. The $25 Gold Level gives you access to any ONE Social Interest Group and ONE Class–and other benefits listed below the form. Or…for $12, join as a Bronze Member and support our mission. All members see the site AD-FREE!
Please note: If you are already a writer/contributor at The Good Men Project, log in here before registering. (Request new password if needed).
◊♦◊
Your ANNUAL PLATINUM membership includes:
1. Free and UNLIMITED ACCESS to participate in ANY of our new Social Interest Groups. We have active communities of like-minded individuals working to change the world on important issues. Weekly facilitated calls that lead to execution of real world strategies for change. Complete schedule here, with new ones starting all the time. We now offer 500 calls a year!
2. Free and UNLIMITED ACCESS to ALL LIVE CLASSES. Learn how build your own platform, be a better writer, become an edit or create social change. Check out our training sessions. As a Platinum member, you can take them all.
3. Invitation to the MEMBERS ONLY Good Men Project Community on Facebook. Connect with other members, network and carry the conversation no one else is having one step further.
4. Access to our PREMIUM MEMBER LIBRARY with our recorded ConvoCasts and classes. ConvoCasts are a new form of media—and you are in them! Only Platinum Members get access to our recordings. And recordings of our classes are really valuable for those who do not have time to take the live classes or just want to review.
5. An ad-free experience. No banner, pop-up, or video ads when you log in.
6. Weekly conference calls with the publisher and other community members. Our weekly calls discuss the issues we see happening in the world of men in a friendly group setting.
7. PLATINUM member commenting badge. Your comments on our website will appear with a platinum member badge, signifying you are a part of our core community.
Price for ANNUAL PLATINUM membership is $50/year.
♦◊♦
Your ANNUAL GOLD membership will include:
1. Free access to any ONE Social Interest Groups.Try them out! We have active communities of like-minded individuals working to change the world on important issues. Weekly facilitated calls that lead to execution of real world strategies for change. Complete schedule here, with new ones starting all the time.
2. Free access to any ONE of our live classes. Each month, we have the following: Learn how to be a Rising Star in media, build your own platform, become an advanced writer, become an editor or create social change. Check out our classes here. RSVP for any one class—if you want to take more, just upgrade to an Annual Platinum Membership.
3. Invitation to the MEMBER-ONLY Good Men Project Community on Facebook and all Weekly Conference calls with the Publisher and community. Connect with other members online and by phone!
4. An ad-free experience. No banner, pop-up, or video ads when you are logged in—as long as your membership is active.
5. GOLD commenting badge. Your comments on our website will appear with a gold member badge, signifying you are a part of our core community.
Price for ANNUAL GOLD membership is $25/year.
♦◊♦
Your ANNUAL BRONZE membership will include:
1. Invitation to the MEMBER-ONLY Good Men Project Community on Facebook and weekly conference calls with the publisher and community. Connect with other members, network and carry the conversation no one else is having one step further.
2. A listing on our Friends of The Good Men Project page. Your support of our mission is noted and appreciated. See the page here!
3. An ad-free experience. No banner, pop-up, or video ads when you are logged in—as long as your membership is active.
4. BRONZE member commenting badge. Your comments on our website will appear with a bronze member badge, signifying you are a part of our core community.
Price for ANNUAL BRONZE membership is $12/year.
♦◊♦
We have groups and calls 7 days a week:
We have pioneered the largest worldwide conversation about what it means to be a good man in the 21st century. Your support of our work is inspiring and invaluable.
◊♦◊
Price for ANNUAL BRONZE membership is $12/year.
“Here’s the thing about The Good Men Project. We are trying to create big, sweeping, societal changes—–overturn stereotypes, eliminate racism, sexism, homophobia, be a positive force for good for things like education reform and the environment. And we’re also giving individuals the tools they need to make individual change—-with their own relationships, with the way they parent, with their ability to be more conscious, more mindful, and more insightful. For some people, that could get overwhelming. But for those of us here at The Good Men Project, it is not overwhelming. It is simply something we do—–every day. We do it with teamwork, with compassion, with an understanding of systems and how they work, and with shared insights from a diversity of viewpoints.” —– Lisa Hickey, Publisher of The Good Men Project and CEO of Good Men Media Inc.
—
Photo: Flickr/Jeri Koegle
Well written, God Bless. ts here to in small town NZ, meth is a huge issue. Easier to buy than marijuana even. Wrecking lives and families. Drug testing of rental and commercial properties is the new boom business. Devastating
beautifully written and brutally honest. Hope there are better times ahead. I hope that things change. It’s a scary world we live in.
Becky, it is a scary world. The problem seems to be everywhere. Thank you for your kind words and for reading. Maybe, if we all work together there will be solutions and change ahead. Thank you again.
Rachel After posting my comment, I had second thoughts. I was afraid that what I said about addiction being a choice was coming close to blaming the victim. I am glad, very glad, that you didn’t take offense at hearing another sober person telling you made bad choices in life, a sermon that you most certainly don’t need, as well aware of that fact as you most certainly are. I am on Facebook with many of my high school classmates. Every one of us who has lived this long (class of 1959) knows that West Virginia can be an awful… Read more »
I grew up in that other city (Charleston) and participated in the pastime of counting up the reasons that we were superior to Huntington. Looking back, I wonder why people wasted their time pretending to be better than a sister city. Neither of them was a great place to live, but each had its charms and advantages. Huntington East didn’t look much different than Stonewall Jackson, and it really wasn’t. Addiction knows no geography, as you know. Addiction also begins with a personal choice, and it can end with another personal choice to stop using whatever it is that’s robbing… Read more »
Steve, I cannot express enough gratitude for your comment. You explained our region and the struggles we face with exact precision. The way you described how our landscape has effected our economic struggles, well… I am speechless. You pinpointed our struggles with a precision I am not capable of doing. Thank you. You also gave me the chance to write something in which I was unable to write in the article. I am accountable for every pill I chose to abuse. It is not something I am proud of. How does one openly admit they chose a drug over their… Read more »
The epidemic is brewing. Larger than anyone realizes. To see the sad reality, take a look at the site The Addicts Mom. Note the deaths every day and the number of mothers joining everyday. It’s the death of a generation. Grandparents raising grandchildren as never before!! I say this as I have at my feet, a 1year old, 3,4, and 7 year old. My daughter, their mother , is in a holding cell made of concrete with no beds, about 50 pounds down from the woman she used to be, because of IV drug use. Not a chronic condition from… Read more »
Donna, tears came to my eyes upon reading your comment. I offer my deepest condolences for your situation, for your daughter. Thank you for sharing your personal story. You bring about a very important testament in this struggle. It effects entire generations, older and young. The younger ones are dying and/or are not capable to raise the babies they made. I commend you for stepping up and providing your grand babies with love along with probably all the essentials needed to raise children (housing, food, clothes, ect.) Six months seems so short to lose a self, to lose a daughter.… Read more »
Seems like money talks in this town. Your a dealer and get busted? No worries as long as you have enough money to feed into the system.
Lyz, thank you for reading and taking the time to talk. You raised a question I have heard several times. How do these dealers make it back onto the streets so quickly? I cannot pretend to have the answers. My only guess is the bail is set low enough to make, and they are back on our streets. Thank you again for raising another important issue in this problem.
This is so sad and so very true. The world is not the place we grew up. Our children face a different reality than we had. I can tell you, I have lived several places. It is everywhere. The only difference here, is we don’t have employment opportunity. I moved to a thriving economy and made great money. The folks I worked with were addicted. Small towns, big city, those who seek drugs will ALWAYS find a drug community. No place is immune. Your writing is beautiful. You are very courageous. God Bless You and yours.
Alma, thank you for reading and for your kind words as well as prayers. I highly underestimated the scope and magnitude in this epidemic. Since this article appeared on The Good Men Project, I have read countless stories about communities where heroin, prescription abuse is the norm. I am laying awake at night with much greater concerns for my own child along with his generation, and the current generation being brought up in and around such a potent recipe for disaster. Growing up in my small town, you had your cliques. Some of them drank, there were the kids who… Read more »
Very well written. Ur words emit the passion u have for the epidemic! U are not exaggerating the slightest about this hurricane! Great read from a person living in the eye of the storm!
Nate, thank you for your kind words on this piece. It really does help everyone in knowing that we are not alone. And when it comes to the place I raise my child in, I will fight till my last breath. He deserves the same safe home we all deserve. Thank you again, your words are truly appreciated.
I live about an hour from Huntington and this story applies to my town too 100% I am also one of those people who worked hard and took care of my family and had major back problems from a young age was giving painkiller by my dr and for many years never took one and although I didn’t snort anything Within a few months of taking my first pill I was addicted! I hated my self because I was ignortant like a lot of people and thought addiction was a cop out For someone who wanted to do drugs and… Read more »
Lynn, I truly can’t say enough how much I appreciate you sharing your own struggles with addiction. You make some very valid points about the struggle in addiction, you don’t always see it coming. I fought my mother, sister, and husband for years. I told them I wasn’t addicted. I was prescribed this medication. I was wrong. I was full blown addict. Last week, I saw three women at our local post office. I recognized that droopy glazed look they had in their eyes. Then I saw the track marks on their arms and necks. I truly believe and hope… Read more »
Rachel, Thank you for this piece. I grew up there, and left 23 years ago for Washington, DC. Who’d have thought that in two decades, H-town would become what DC was in the 80s (except heroin instead of crack)? It’s just tragic, and the youngest victims (the babies born as addicts) seem to be the only ones truly getting help, thanks to Lily’s Place. I have no idea what the solution is, but prayerfully by raising awareness, change and healing can come.
Ellin, thank you for taking the time to read and talk back. I do hope perhaps you mentioning the struggles Washington D.C. faced could be a learning experience to how to handle these types of issues. Also, I commend you in mentioning Lily’s Place. It is a much needed center in this Hurricane. Lily’s Place, as sad as it is to have, is truly an asset in our little town. Thank you so much for commenting as I believe by having an open discussion, with people from across the nation, we can find a way to stop this epidemic.
While this piece has truth, I feel it’s a little misleading. I also live in Huntington, but it’s not a hopeless situation for everyone. The imagery presented is not accurate for most of the people that live, work, and play here. We have many positive aspects of Huntington that most non-residents don’t acknowledge. While many seem to look at Huntington from the negative and stagnant perspective of “Moneyton” I, like many many more Huntington residents, will continue to focus on the positivity of our environment. The rest of the world needs to know we are not all drug addicted, welfare,… Read more »
Jessica, I appreciate you taking the time to read and comment. I never meant to mislead anyone. The article you shared is a favorite piece of mine which I read about a month back. As to every situation, there is always a duality present. I have written several pieces about the places the author mentions in his piece. One of my fondest memories was taking my son to Camden Park and introducing him to his first Pronto Pup. My first job was at Camden Park when I was 15 years old, I was so excited to take my son there… Read more »
I appreciate your response. I wasn’t trying to demean your writing or personal struggles. I am very, very aware of the drug issues and certainly the prostitution issues here. In all honesty, I live on the west end. The stend has had an influx of problems in addition to the already existing drug issues. I’d say as the Fairfield area dismantles, the drugs migrated here. When I said “this level” I was basically referring to the image of no hope, and no quality of life. It hit a sore spot because I am constantly combatting the image of Huntington and… Read more »
No need for apologies, ever. I didn’t find it demeaning. I honestly welcome the conversation. The ability to highlight the good as well as the bad is a wonderful way encompass why this hurts all people. There are hard working residents in this community (and in this state.) I was raised in the West End, so I am happy to meet you! That area has been one of the hardest hit. You made some wonderful recommendations for any one coming to visit here. I LOVE THE WILD RAMP! It was a sad day when they were robbed. They have done… Read more »
M, thank you for reading. I agree with every word you wrote. It really came into our area like a hurricane, fast and deadly. Thank you again for reading and taking the time to talk.
That’s a very sad picture. I always hear how heroin is on the rise in this country, and you really show what it can do to a small town. I hope that by sharing your town’s story, you can inspire change!
Meredith, thank you for reading and talking. Upon writing this, I thought our problem was localized. I admit my ignorance to the national epidemic this drug is costing so many small towns across our country. I sincerely hope this article will create a dialogue to spark some of kind of change. Thank you again for reading and sharing your thoughts. It is very much appreciated.
The drug epidemic is beyonf scary. Heroin is way too easy too get and too prevelant.
It’s hard to see a place where you grew up morph into somewhere that is no longer safe. Where I live drug deals are not on the street. It’s the star athlete or straight A student who is snorting cocaine at parties and their parents don’t have a clue until it’s too late. Great piece Rachel!
Melissa, thank you for reading and sharing about a drug problem which is often hidden away. Before I saw pills and heroin take over our town, your comment makes me wonder if this was the case. The problem existed, it just wasn’t done as openly as before. My heart aches for any parent watching their child suffer through addiction. Thank you again for opening my eyes to another way drugs are taking the lives of people too young to die.
This just…it hurt to read. The imagery it evoked when I closed my eyes or hung on the words. It’s beautiful and yet…painful. Thank you for writing and for sharing. I wish you all the best on your new endeavors and for your son.
Ashley, thank you for reading and my mother agrees with your comment. She stated “it was painful to read.” It hit home, too close for some… I truly hope it helps create a solution. I appreciate your kind words, they are treasured. Thank you.
Such an important piece. No one thinks of the small towns, and the havoc wreaked by an influx like this. Good for you for speaking up with such passion and eloquence.
Renee, thank you for reading and for your kind words. Until now, this was a problem I never considered. It really is causing a great deal of pain within our small towns. When we lose people so young, chances are we either know them or someone who is related to them. It effects entire communities. I hope speaking up makes a difference, at least starts a healthy conversation into fixing the problems. Thank you, your comment is greatly appreciated.
wow, does this ever make me appreciate, good old boring Canada. Good read
Darla, thank you for reading. Canada really does sound nice. They have mountains there too, right? It could be like home 🙂 Thank you again for reading and for taking the time to talk.
Your town was also mine for a short while. We heard endless stories of the drug problem as we were moving in, and now have some of our own stories thanks to our neighbors across the street from where we lived. It’s a rough situation but good that it’s talked about and cracked down on.
Tessa, thank you for reading and I hate to hear you gained your own stories by living here. I keep saying over and over, “it wasn’t always like this.” There are so many wonderful aspects about living here that I love (Herd Football, the Fall foliage, great community events) but sadly these things are becoming overshadowed due to this epidemic. I wholeheartedly agree with your comment about talking openly about the problem and cracking down. Thank you so much for taking the time to read and share your experience.
where we live is normally pretty calm, where we use to live is crazy, wild and I am glad I don’t live there. Drugs are taking over the world and it is so sad
Terri, thank you so much for reading and it does give my heart hope that you found a safer place. It is a sad state to be this technologically advanced yet, we face a problem that has no right answer. Thank again for reading and talking.
Sadly it’s happening all over small town USA. Drugs are taking over and leaving people dead at an early age. Theft and other crime are on the rise. The world is so much different now.
Bonnie, thank you for reading and by writing this I was able to learn this is NOT a localized problem. Nationally, the problem is on the rise. This piece began as a way to help my community, now I realize how rampant and deep this problem runs. I commend you for commenting about the crime, it’s something we have witnessed here daily. People will do anything for that fix. It’s a very different world than the one I was raised in. Thank you so much again for talking and reading. I greatly appreciate it.
Such a tragedy. Big elections coming next year. Time to be louder, and involve the evil that is politics, to battle the evil that has possessed your town. Prayers, for you and yours.
Donna, thank you for reading. I genuinely hope for change, both nationally and on local state levels. I wish I had an exact solution to the problem, but sadly I only have the ability to tell the stories I see. Hopefully, within doing that something will change, or help will come. Thank you for your prayers, they are much appreciated and needed.
What a powerful story. As long as there are people like you who will write their truth I have to believe that we can make the situation better. By speaking out, by having compassion we can change our world.
Shelah, thank you for the kind words and for reading. I truly believe and hope you are right. If enough of us can stand and speak up, show compassion… then hope never dies. Then there is a solution, cut the addiction and starve the suppliers. Your comment touched me so much. Thank you for your compassion.
Wow! We read about these places but don’t think about living in them. However, I too live in this dreadful place that seems like it has no Ray of hope. I too see these poor souls that would pawn those souls in a heartbeat for that next fix. It’s sad. It’s sad that we can’t stop it. But it is hopeful when I read things such as this from someone who knows, who has been there and back, and can tell a story of defeating this demon and cares enough to want to fight for others. Good for you! Tell… Read more »
Sara, thank you so much for reading and commenting. I hate for your sake that you are witnessing these dreadful deeds also. You are right, there are some who would pawn their souls in order to get the next fix. I saw them a week back at the local post office. I truly hope they know there is a present, a beautiful day where they don’t have to be mired in addiction. Waking up to that new day… it’s better than any drug. Thank you again, and we will fight together. Always.