Gina McDonald grew up in a household with an alcoholic father. While in high school, she experimented with alcohol and marijuana. When she turned 21, she unfortunately followed her father’s footsteps and started drinking heavily, eventually becoming addicted. After having her daughter at age 26, Gina started participating in outpatient treatment for her alcoholism.

Gina was clean for four years, but after being prescribed opioids following surgery, she became hooked on them and got opioid prescriptions wherever she could find them. Once her addiction became unmanageable, she was thrown out of her house and ended up on the street. She started using meth in addition to the pills. After losing everything, Gina realized she needed to turn her life around, got clean, and returned to her family.

Gina’s daughter, Sam, began experimenting with marijuana in high school and later moved onto cocaine and heroin. She ended up on the streetn the Tenderloin. In a positive step, Sam recently admitted herself into rehab where she is in recovery.

Tanya Tilghman’s son, Roman, was an honor roll student and gifted musician who taught himself to play multiple instruments growing up in San Francisco. But when he was moved off Adderall in his Sophomore year of high school, Roman began to self medicate.

His life quickly started spiraling out of control and he ended up becoming addicted to drugs which led to homelessness and incarceration.  Roman is currently incarcerated and waiting to get into treatment.

Tanya joined MADAAD after living in years of silence about her son’s addiction which almost destroyed her and her family.  She felt it time to do her part in combating the drug epidemic by sharing her story to let families know they too are not alone and do not have to live in fear or shame because drug addiction can happen to anyone.

Michelle Leopold lost her son Trevor to fentanyl poisoning when he was 18. Trevor began using marijuana and prescription drugs his freshman year of high school. He decided marijuana was his drug of choice and said it made him feel like he fit in, but he could be violent when he was coming down from highs. 

Trevor’s parents tried everything to get him off his addiction. They sent him to six different high schools in four years and required him to do rehab, but he didn’t want to quit. Despite his rocky high school experience, Trevor earned good grades and was accepted into Sonoma State University. 

Unfortunately, when he turned 18, his parents could no longer force him into rehab by law. On November 17th, 2019, during his first semester of college, Trevor took fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone and died in his sleep. Trevor never did fentanyl by itself and might not have known it was in the pills he was using.

In Michelle’s words: “My beautiful boy was a nature lover, a kind and giving friend, and always full of life. He was so much more than his addiction. I wish every day that he was here now, but in his honor and memory, I've been raising awareness among parents about the dangers of fentanyl. There is so much that needs to be done around this crisis, including pressing our lawmakers to change laws that enable addiction.”

Cory Kremlacek’s son, Terry, has struggled with addiction for the past several years. He started suffering from depression in middle school and began using heroin in his late teenage years to cope. He did rehab when he was 19 and stayed clean for 8 years. During that time, while working full time as a manager in a small business, he graduated from Sonoma State University with a B.S. in business.  After graduating, Terry relapsed and is now addicted to fentanyl. He’s had success in rehab several times but this time hasn’t been able to shake his addiction. He lives on the streets in the Tenderloin and is resourceful in finding ways to pay for the fentanyl. 

Cory has been able to stay in touch with her son and has seen him intermittently this year. She has brought him food and clothes and recently bought him a brief stay at a hotel. Last time she saw her son, she told him, “It breaks my heart to see you like this.”

Tammy Foglia’s son, Davis, is currently living homeless in the Tenderloin addicted to fentanyl. She is sharing her story to help save his life and the lives of thousands of others. Davis began struggling with an opioid use disorder in highschool. He was repeatedly denied inpatient treatment for his addiction due to it not being considered “medically necessary” by their insurance company. Even now that Davis is homeless, he knows recovery is the only thing that will save his life, but the grips of fentanyl make it too hard for him to do on his own. Tammy believes Davis would choose recovery if given the choice between that and jail, but after more than 20 warrants across three counties he has not been given that option.

Janet Dyer has been unable to find her nephew, Chris, for 3 years. He is addicted to fentanyl and lives in the Tenderloin. The last time she saw him was in the San Francisco Chronicle where he was pictured being resuscitated from an overdose.

Chris had been successful before his addiction. He owned his own mechanic shop, which he sold to go live in Hawaii and surf. After a few years, he started having problems with alcohol and returned to California to receive treatment. Sobered up, he opened a new mechanic shop in San Rafael. 

He started having back pain on the job and received “help” from a friend of his business partner in the form of some sort of opioid. Soon Chris was back in the throes of addiction and has lived in the Tenderloin since. 

Janet continues to search for Chris. When asked what she would do if she found him, Janet said she would update him on his family. “I’d tell him hat he is an uncle. That his mother moved to Oregon. That his cousin, my son, is SFPD in the Mission. And that we all love him and miss him.” 

Helen Schwartz’s son, Daniel, died from an overdose of heroin, meth, and fentanyl on May 27, 2021 at age 26. He had been using drugs on and off for six years while working as a cook. He lost his job during COVID. Eventually he wound up in jail in November 2020 because of his addiction. Daniel told his mom he appreciated his time behind bars because it forced him to sober up and do some deep thinking about his life. He told an inmate friend that he was ambivalent about being released because jail fostered his sobriety. When he was released on May 25, none of his friends were sober; he relapsed and was dead within 36 hours of coming home. After her son’s death, Helen committed herself to fighting the fentanyl overdose epidemic so no one has to feel the pain that she now knows.

Roberta Diaz lost her son Andrew on April 19, 2021 to fentanyl poisoning. She didn’t know her son was experimenting with hard drugs. He was training to be an assistant manager at Del Taco and was doing well at work. None of his colleagues suspected he was taking recreational drugs. He was happy, healthy, and had just joined a gym.

Because fentanyl is incredibly dangerous, Roberta is concerned that her two teenagers, who are good kids, will experiment with drugs like Andrew. In Roberta’s words: “Andrew loved his life, family, and friends. I don’t think there will ever be an explanation that will make his death ok.”

Nancy Paravicini began her use of illicit drugs while employed by a hospital. Working the night shift, she stole sleeping pills to help her sleep. She did not become addicted, but she learned how to access drugs through her work. She was first exposed to opiates following surgery to remove her appendix. Her doctor prescribed her opioid pain killers and she became hooked immediately. She would steal from the hospital or con doctors into prescribing her opiates to feed her addiction. Eventually Nancy decided she needed to go to rehab to stop the harm addiction was causing her. She revealed to her friends and family that she was an addict and admitted herself to rehab. After rehab, she relapsed twice, but now has been seven years continuously sober. Nancy supports Mothers Against Drug Addiction and Deaths because she has experienced first hand how addiction harms families.

Beth Buchanan adopted two children who were the babies of mothers who had substance abuse. Both newborns entered this world addicted to hard drugs though medical professionals ensured they were not for long. 

Beth’s first son, CJ, had a happy childhood until he was 9 and started suffering from depression. He began using marijuana and prescription pills when he was in high school. His drug use escalated and now Beth only sees CJ when he is in jail or in a psychiatric hospital. 

Beth’s younger son, Nicki, began using drugs at 11 when he first tried cigarettes. In junior high he started using marijuana and later pills. In high school he drank heavily and frequently blacked out. He would come home completely incoherent on pills. He was sent to a juvenile court high school and was exposed to meth while there. He’s been to rehab multiple times but does not want to stop using drugs.