to Freeman, hardly a week goes by that she does not meet someone new.
“ These women have never lived a normal life, yet society expects them to,” she says.“ Everybody says,‘ Just go to rehab.’ Well, Huntington has eight detox beds. How long would it take just to get all 325 of these women through seven days of detox? How long would the 325th girl have to wait for her turn?”
Freeman’ s ministry work is what led her to join the drug court treatment team. When the prosecuting attorney for the City of Huntington noticed her sitting in the back row of the courtroom for a variety of drug-related hearings, he wanted to know why. When he found out, he insisted she join the treatment team. While the work is rewarding, it takes an emotional toll.
“ With the brown bag girls, I can laugh until I cry, and I can be so mad at them
I slam my car doors,” she says.“ One of the girls, Grace, is newly off the streets, and every time I see her, I grin from ear to ear. She makes me so proud. It’ s changed my life more than it’ s changed theirs, I feel sure. They just need a friend. They just need somebody to take their hand and say,‘ I’ ll go with you. I’ ll show you how to get help, and if I don’ t know how, we’ ll find a way together.’ Not all of them made these choices. Some of them were just handed this life, and it’ s all they knew to do. For us to give them a choice, we have to give them hope, and we have to show them what that is because they don’ t even know what hope looks like.”
One Day at a Time
Concerned citizens and frustrated authorities from every field continue to offer opinions on prevention, supply control, treatment, recovery and reintegration. Public health, medical, social, spiritual, legal— every field of thought has a solution. While we wait for the ace, Rader, Keller and Freeman are on the frontlines, offering something both elementary and universal: hope.
The“ Heroin( e)” documentary does not offer a foolproof plan or a secret weapon for overcoming drug addiction. Instead, it tells a story about people meeting people where they are and helping them take their addiction one day at a time. It is about a group of three West Virginia women offering the essentials, whether that be food and a toothbrush or life-saving measures like CPR and naloxone, without judgement. It is about investing in and caring for West Virginia’ s most precious resource— its people. •
Behind the Lens
Elaine McMillion Sheldon, director of the documentary film“ Heroin( e),” was working on a completely different film following West Virginians in recovery when she first met Jan Rader, a firefighter for the City of Huntington, in 2016. Over time, Rader introduced McMillion Sheldon and her husband, Kerrin, to Judge Patricia Keller, local ministry leader Necia Freeman and others in the Huntington community who are actively working to overcome the state’ s drug epidemic.
Elaine McMillion
Sheldon. Photo by Jessica Earnshaw.
McMillion Sheldon and her husband began filming“ Heroin( e)” in February 2016, shadowing Rader, Keller and Freeman, unsure of what to do with the footage. With no plan, no funding and no distributor, they were simply following the story. However, in the fall of 2016, the film received funding from The Center for Investigative Reporting, and the project took off.
“ Once we had that directive, we narrowed in on these three women— they definitely inspired me,” says McMillion Sheldon.“ Their story of resilience and hope needed to be told in this crisis. These women represent what this nation needs to help move us forward. It’ s not so much a film about drugs or a film about a crisis as much as it is a film about how much impact one individual can have on their local community.”
McMillion Sheldon believes growing up in West Virginia made her an innate storyteller.“ This place fosters storytelling,” she says.“ Growing up in a place defined by struggle, I became interested in stories of resilience and struggle and finding the optimism in those.”
An acute glimpse into the daily fight taking place in Cabell County, several parts of the“ Heroin( e)” documentary were filmed on the scene of actual overdoses, a very nerve-wracking experience for McMillion Sheldon.
“ You’ re trying to stay out of the way and not hinder the work of the first responders,” she says.“ There are so many things going through your head— ethical questions, logistical questions, health concerns. I have a lot of respect for the people who allowed us to use that footage because this wasn’ t a moment they particularly wanted to have documented. I don’ t take that responsibility lightly.”
Since the documentary’ s debut in September 2017, McMillion Sheldon, Rader, Keller and Freeman have developed a close relationship, traveling to screenings and making various media appearances together.“ Heroin( e)” was the only film to be screened at the 2017 Obama Foundation Summit, and the stars have made appearances on NBC’ s“ Meet the Press” and“ The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.” On January 23, it was announced that the film was one of five documentaries in the running for an Oscar.
All four women are proud of the film’ s success, but they are more motivated by the attention it has brought to a crisis they have been fighting for years.
“ It’ s an incredible honor to even be recognized for an academy award, but for me, it’ s a little odd to celebrate recognition for a film when it’ s about a topic that people suffer from every single day,” says McMillion Sheldon.“ I struggle to be excited for those types of things because this is a serious topic, and we need solutions. I hope that is what the film can do. More than awards and more than screenings, I just hope the film can be used in communities to help start conversations that bring change.”
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