A decade ago, at the beginning of the opioid epidemic, Cheryl Juaire’s son, Corey, died of a heroin overdose at age 23. She knew little about opioid addiction when Corey struggled, and she didn’t know anyone with a child who had died, let alone from an overdose.

For the next two and a half years, she and her family grieved alone. When she received an invitation to meet other mothers who had lost a child from an overdose, they helped her get a new perspective on life with grief. She then came to understand how much grieving parents needed one another.

Her grief remains, but it now manifests itself in hope and advocacy. That hope is still there despite the death of her second son, Sean, lost to addiction in 2021.

Cheryl is working to support families and recognize their loss in a public and cathartic way by asking Federal and state governments to fly flags at half-staff in honor of Overdose Awareness Day. Ask your members of Congress to cosponsor a resolution, H.Res. 349, to encourage federal buildings to lower flags to half-staff in support of Overdose Awareness Day to help bring attention to the national overdose crisis and honor the lives lost.

People and families struggling with substance use and addiction encounter a variety of systemic challenges throughout their journey, which is why we created a new section of our website called "Help Us Change the Story of Addiction." The site features personal stories like Cheryl’s that bring these structural barriers to life. Each story highlighted will offer visitors an opportunity to advocate for specific policy change by signing an action alert or by sharing similar stories from their own journey.

Let’s start re-writing the story of addiction today.