Washington, D.C.— Indiana U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly invited Sharon Cranfill, Director of House of Ruth in Connersville to join him as his guest to President Obama’s State of the Union speech last night. Connersville has been hit particularly hard by the growing heroin crisis. Since September, 41 people have overdosed on heroin in Connersville and eight have died. The House of Ruth is a non-profit that opened in 2009 and provides residential counseling, job training, and other services to Fayette County residents to help them recover from addiction and get their lives in order.
Donnelly said, “I invited Sharon to highlight the important work she is doing at the House of Ruth and others are doing across Indiana to help folks struggling with heroin and prescription drug abuse to rebuild their lives. Unfortunately, growing heroin use is negatively impacting Connersville and many other Indiana communities. It is critical that we continue to shine a light on rising heroin abuse and prescription drug addiction in Indiana and across the country to raise awareness while working to find solutions to this crisis. It is going to take all of us working together to keep our communities safe and combat heroin use — from working with Indiana organizations, law enforcement, and community leaders to leveraging local, state, and federal resources.”
Cranfill said, “It is such a privilege to be Senator Donnelly’s guest at the State of the Union and a once in a lifetime opportunity that I am thankful for. House of Ruth is my passion. Addiction is not just affecting people in Connersville—it is a nationwide problem. We need to show those who are addicted that there is help, and there is hope. We help the women at House of Ruth get an education, get a GED, go to college, and find a job. Not just any job—one they can make a living at. We also teach cooking, budgeting, and managing money. These are things we think are normal but for some they are not. And addiction doesn’t affect just the addict it affects the entire family, so we work with children, spouses, and parents of the women at House of Ruth. It makes such a difference just to show we care.”
Last year, Donnelly organized meetings with stakeholders in both Connersville and Fishers to discuss the ongoing and emerging impact of prescription drug abuse and the rise in heroin use in Indiana. He heard from law enforcement, school leaders, community leaders, and elected officials about the challenges and obstacles they face preventing heroin abuse and keeping drugs off the streets of local communities.
On November 6, 2014, Donnelly first met with Cranfill when he hosted a roundtable discussion at the House of Ruth of Connersville to discuss heroin use and addiction with Cranfill, Connersville Mayor Leonard Urban, local law enforcement officials, and a Connersville resident who had recently lost her nephew to a heroin overdose.
In June 2014, Donnelly and Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) introduced the bipartisan Heroin and Prescription Opioid Abuse Prevention, Education, and Enforcement Act. The bill aims to help combat heroin use and prescription drug abuse by giving law enforcement the tools they need, bringing together experts to develop best practices for prescribing pain management, and establishing a national prescription drug abuse and heroin use awareness campaign.
Donnelly plans to continue working on this issue in the 114th Congress.
