“I strongly believe that we are strong enough as a community to come forward and make a change,” said Patti Eisenzimmer, the mother of a recovering drug user.

“I strongly believe everybody that makes a mistake deserves a second chance. We can’t punish them for the rest of their lives because they chose the wrong road,” Eisenzimmer said. “We are not going to turn our backs on these people. We can’t.”

Eisenzimmer was one of four mothers on a panel who spoke about the struggles families face in obtaining help for their teens and young adults. They spoke about being turned away from treatment centers or having their children ejected from programs before they were ready.

“That’s not the help these people need,” said Eisenzimmer, a member of the Mayor’s Committee on Addiction. “Do something to make a difference because we can’t by ourselves. The Mayor’s Committee on Addiction cannot. We need to all chip in together.”

Jill Schramm/MDN Patti Eisenzimmer, right, speaks at a community forum on addiction as Cindy Springstead listens at left. Both spoke about their families’ experiences with addiction Wednesday.

Heather Leier, a parent who started the support program Embrace North Dakota, said her outlook changed when she began to talk about the disease of addiction rather than the choice of addiction.

“Yes, we have all made bad choices in life but it’s where we go from there,” she said. Embrace North Dakota meets Mondays at 7 p.m. in Eagles Wings Community Fellowship.

Nancy Bommelman, a parent, urged the community to consider establishing a large treatment center, suggesting the purchase of one of the local hotels to get started.

“There’s no help, none, for anybody. We need to step up and instead of spending $10 million for a parking ramp or $600 grand to move a house, we need to take that money and use our power for good instead of evil,” said Bommelman, who is running for Minot mayor.

The panel also included Sarah, who had gone through addiction struggles that included alcohol and opioids. It was finding God through a jail ministry that changed her life.

Jill Schramm/MDN Capt. John Klug with the Minot Police Department holds up containers of cocaine during a presentation on drug awareness during an addiction forum Wednesday.

“The amount of support that they gave me – and just love – kind of just changed something in me,” she said.

She said even good people can make bad choices at times, but people can always start over. She has been in a support group for nearly 18 months and has been active with the mayor’s committee.

“This is just another issue that touches everybody’s life, whether they realize it or not. Just because you don’t see it in your personal life doesn’t mean it’s not going on down the street, it’s not going on with the people your kids go to school with, it’s not going on with people you work with,” Sarah said. “If we can come together and stand together and make a difference, I think we are going to see a really big change and a really big shift in the community.”

One audience member reported being 19 years clean after discovering he had been trying to fill a spiritual hole with affirmation from a drug crowd. His faith now fills that hole, and he reaches out to others in addiction as a teacher for Recovery Point, a support program offered locally at the Apostolic Church.

“I am just looking for people who are hurting and need an answer. We are there to help,” he said.

Others in the audience who sought recovery spoke of being turned away or made to wait but also reported successes when they finally found help.

Jason Anderson, supervisor of Trinity Health’s addiction program, said regulations and space constraints limit the ability of treatment facilities to provide immediate response.

“I completely agree that there are not enough services in this town, and I very much agree that we need more long-term services and programs in this town. Because I am tired of having to put Band-Aids on gaping, bleeding cuts that are going to kill everybody,” Anderson said. “We do have hands tied by things we don’t have control over but please don’t think that we don’t want to help the people that you love, because we do.”

The Minot Police Department also provided drug awareness information.

Capt. John Klug said since police began carrying Narcan, a opioid antidote, last May, they have had nine instances of use. This does not include instances in which the antidote may have been used by the sheriff’s office, paramedics, fire department or hospital, he said.

He talked about the increase in drug use in recent years, particularly opioids.

“We have to try to do something to stop it because we are not always going to be there to deliver Narcan, and it can’t stop with the use of Narcan and the trip to the hospital,” he said of the community’s efforts. “It has to go further than that.”